Our Little Wonderboy
by esprit en deuil
Summary: McGee and little Anthony get to start their lives at home and Jethro is with them every step of the way, but not everyone is happy for the little family. Second part to my series, follows the events of My Miracle Baby
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:So, here is the first chapter of the second story in my series, So this story takes place shortly after My Miracle Baby. This story also contains a slash pairing (Gibbs/McGee) so if you don't like that kind of thing, then don't read it. And this is a WIP that I'm writing as I go along, the goal is to post the next chapter next week (So a chapter per week). Hope you enjoy and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to tell me :) (edited to correct a few really stupid mistakes...)**_

McGee held weeks of silent vigil at Baby Anthony's bedside but every day the little boy seemed to be doing better and his father got to hold him a little longer in his loving arms. Tim wasn't the only one to hold him though, Gibbs had been a constant presence by little Anthony's bedside and a big support for the new daddy, so it was only natural that Gibbs got to hold the little baby too.

The first time Gibbs sat in the rocking chair with the little baby in his arms and Tim hovering anxiously at his side, the older man had been nearly overwhelmed with emotions. The moment the bundle was placed in his arms, flashbacks of a little baby girl came into his mind, but he shook them away, that had been a long time ago and even though he would never forget his two special girls, that was then and this is now. He looked down at the green eyes that stared up at him and felt one of the tiny hands wrap around his finger and he knew that this baby had stolen his heart, just like his daddy had and maybe it was time to do something about it.

Finally four weeks after his birth, Anthony Michael McGee-Dinozzo was finally ready to be released from the hospital and McGee was overjoyed to be able to take his son home. The house had been made ready and Tim knew that Gibbs had been by with Abby to stock the fridge and buy more diapers and formula for the little guy currently sleeping contently in his car seat. Tim looked over at Gibbs who had insisted on driving both Tim and the baby, McGee was grateful for the support and guidance the older man was providing, but the close proximity to the older man was making it harder and harder to ignore the feelings he had for the silver haired agent. Watching the other man be so gentle and caring towards Tim's little boy was making a lot of feelings surface that he would rather keep buried near his ex-marine boss who was as straight as an iron rod. Tim sighed but he couldn't help but feel all his worries evaporate as he watched his miracle baby's sleeping face.

Gibbs watched his two passengers via the rear view mirror and smiled slightly at the sight of McGee staring in awe at his precious little baby boy. Gibbs turned his eyes back on the road and thought wryly that it was the first time since driving Kelly home that he had ever driven so carefully. He looked at the man he had come to appreciate as an agent a friend and most recently as a potential lover. He knew there were still some things he needed to find out before he made any kind of move on his agent, biggest question being whether or not McGee shared his feelings, but Gibbs would give him some time to settle to his role as a daddy first and into his new life.

The two men and the baby arrived at the house and Gibbs went to the trunk and got all of the stuff that had been sent to the hospital by McGee's family members and friends, while McGee took the baby carrier. The made their way up the path to the dark house and Tim unlocked the door and stepped into the hallway. He turned on the lights and was surprised to see a huge light blue banner on the ceiling stating 'Welcome home little Anthony' And there was also balloons and confetti. McGee looked at his boss in wonder and saw the smirk on his face just as there was a noise and people jumped up from various places around the room yelling 'surprise'.

Tim felt overwhelmed as Abby, Ducky and Kate walked up to them and Abby wrapped him into a tight hug "Tim! It's so good to see you, I've missed you and Anthony!" Tim laughed as Abby's attention went from his to the little baby and she started cooing at the boy who was blinking his eyes sleepily. "You just saw us yesterday Abs"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen my two special guys all day today!" She tickled the baby's tummy and Kate joined her in front of the baby carrier. Ducky shook his head fondly and pulled McGee in a gentle hug

"Welcome home my dear lads, I gather everything is fine with the little one?"

"Thanks Duck, and yeah, every thing's fine. His lungs aren't completely developed yet and the doctors think that his lungs may never be perfectly healthy but they assured me that his condition wouldn't be worse than regular asthma , but other than that he's a healthy little boy"

"McGee, go enjoy your party" Gibbs nudged his agent in the shoulder, gaining Abby's attention.

"Yeah, Tim. We wanted to through you a welcome home party 'cause you didn't get a baby shower and now you need to go and enjoy the fruit of our hard labor!" Tim grinned at the Goth's words before to the two women's dismay, took the boy from the carrier to his arms and went to thank the other guests for coming. Gibbs just chuckled at his agent's show of protectiveness towards his four week old baby. And the looks on Abby's and Kate's face was enough to make Ducky chuckle as well.

After the party was over and everyone had left, including Abby who gave at least five goodbye hugs and placed as many kisses on Anthony's forehead, Tim sat in his living room with the little bundle in his arms. He looked at the sleeping baby for a while before deciding that it was time for bed. He carried the baby to the nursery that Abby had decorated with great delight and now was painted light shade of blue and had picture's of Duck's in the walls. McGee changed the baby's diaper without even waking the baby, he then placed the sleeping boy in the crib and stood there watching him for a few moment. He was thankful for this chance of being a father, even though he had doubted his ability to raise a kid. He sent a silent prayer for Anthony's continuing health and safety and thanked Antonia for the gift she had given him in the form of this little boy. He wiped away the tear that tried to escape his eye and placed a kiss on his son's forehead before saying a quiet 'good night' and going to his own bed to get some sleep.

The morning after the homecoming, Anthony woke his dad up at six for a diaper change and feeding. Tim was grateful that the baby had slept the whole night peacefully, but he wasn't sure if the peace would last, in truth Tim had no idea how well babies usually slept and it scared him a bit that there was still so much he didn't know and the little child laying contently in his arms depended on him to know everything. It was the first morning that McGee was totally alone with his son and he was having serious doubts. In the hospital McGee had been allowed to feed and wash his son, but he was never completely alone with him, there was always a nurse hovering somewhere in the vicinity so there was no way he could screw up, but here? There was no-one watching Anthony's back.

Tim was getting increasingly worried about his lack of experience with babies and he didn't notice when Anthony woke from the sleep he had slipped to before the baby started crying and wouldn't stop no matter what Tim did. McGee was getting desperate and he didn't know what else to do, the baby wasn't hungry or need a diaper change. Tim knew that the team had decided to give him some time to adjust to being home with the baby, so the cavalry wouldn't be arriving anytime soon, so Tim did the only thing he could in his panicked haze.

He called Gibbs.

It didn't take Gibbs long to get to Tim's house and he rang the doorbell. He could hear the baby's crying inside and the pounding footsteps brought the sound nearer. The the door opened and the panicked face of McGee appeared in the doorway.

"Boss! I'm sorry to bother you on a weekend, but I didn't know what to do. He just cries, he isn't hungry, doesn't need a change or burping, Oh god, what if there's something really wrong I don't-"

Gibbs picked the baby out of the man's arms and smiled sown at the baby as he rocked him to and fro. Gradually the crying stopped and Tim looked at the older man in amazement. Gibbs didn't avert his eyes from the baby as he stepped fully inside and carried the baby to the living room.

"You know McGee that babies can sense your moods, you getting upset was probably enough to make this little fella cry."

Tim sighed heavily and dropped to sit on the couch in the living room. "Well that's the thing isn't it? I didn't know that, hell there's a lot of stuff i don't know and look how well that's turning out!"

Gibbs frowned and moved to sit besides his agent the baby still in his arms.

"Tim, it's natural that there's a lot of things you don't know, but you'll learn them. There are a lot of books of parenting, but the bottom line is that every baby is different and in the end, no-one knows your son as well as you do."

Tim smiled at the endorsement from his usually tight lipped boss.

"Thanks Boss, but i really am sorry that we bothered you today. I can take him now, you probably have somewhere else to be"

Gibbs tightened his hold on Anthony as Tim reached for him. Gibbs met Tim's puzzled gaze and decided that it was now or never and he took a deep breath.

"No Tim, you didn't bother me, i love spending time with Anthony and i would like to spent more time with both him and you."

McGee's eyes widened and he couldn't help but hope that Gibbs meant what the thought he did.

"Boss I-"

"No Tim, I'm not your boss here, it's Jethro. I wanted to tell you for a while that i have feelings four you, and i loved this little miracle form the first day i saw him." Gibbs was being uncharacteristically hesitant and Tim couldn't hold back any longer.

Tim closed the distance between them and gave the older man a hesitant kiss, both men aware of the baby between them and were careful not to crush him. The kiss was short and gentle, but still both men felt a bit out of breath.

"Jethro" McGee said, grinning from ear to ear. "I could get used to it" He then looked down at the baby still in Gibbs' arms and his grin dimmed as he grew more hesitant.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, I have Anthony now and I don't want to get into this if there's a chance that you'll just up an leave the two of us when you get bored."

Gibbs cut of Tim's words with another kiss and bend down to kiss the baby's head as well.

"I'm sure Tim. I want you to be sure too, you might have noticed but I'm not the type to do casual, I tend to marry and I won't let go easily."

Tim Smiled warmly addressed the baby that was watching the two men. "Well Anthony, you want another daddy?" The baby blew raspberries at them and the men laughed even if the thought of being a daddy again caused Gibbs' heart to swell and a lump to form in his throat.

"I think that Anth-"

" Timothy, don't you think that's a pretty big name for a little baby like him? Would you mind if we called him Tony" Tim smiled at Gibbs' interruption. And the issue was settled as the baby blew more raspberries.

"Tony, I like it" The two men and the baby sat on the couch for a long while, the men just enjoying being close to each other and watching the little boy who was desperately trying to stay awake, even though his eyelids were drooping.

"He's gonna be a handful" Gibbs whispered to his new partner as they watched the baby finally succumb to sleep.

" Yeah, he's just like his mom. It's the Italian spirit in him" McGee answered wistfully, remembering the pocket rocket of a woman, who had died to give him this precious little bundle. Gibbs smiled at Tim and dropped a kiss to his two boys' forehead and he grinned at the thought _'yeah, they're my special boys' and I promise to take care of them."_

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:I sorry for the delay, but I was really having trouble on how to make this work and so, here is a short chapter that hopefully signifies the end of my struggles... hope you enjoy :) **_

Tim couldn't have been happier. Two weeks after the day Gibbs and he had talked in his house of their feelings and everything was going great. The two men had decided to take things slow and do things right, but at the same time, they acknowledged that they already had a base to build on as they had been working together for a while.

Tim had been a little put off by the fact that he seemed to be the female one in their relationship, what with Gibbs _Jethro _bringing him flowers and making him feel like a nervous virgin.

Everything was going well with little Tony as well, the boy seemed to grow every day, and according to the pediatrician, the boy was doing extremely well.

Tim smiled as he rocked the baby in his lap and fed him from the bottle, but the smile faltered as he remembered that there had been bad things as well. Antonia's lawyer had been by to talk about her will, apparently she had changed it once she found out she was pregnant and Tim would raise the baby, but Marco had tried his best to keep the testament from being fulfilled and so it was weeks after her death that Tim finally got the news.

A the new will had Tony as one of the beneficiaries, Tim was to attend the meeting where the will was read, as Tony himself would be too little to represent himself. That had been a week ago and today Tim would have to go down to the lawyer's office to a meeting, concerning the will. Tim sighed as he thought about the impending meeting that would have all the beneficiaries present, including Marco.

Tim took the nipple of the bottle from his son's mouth and gently burped the baby before going to the nursery to change his diaper and put him down for a nap. Tony had just gone to sleep when McGee heard a knock on the door and he smiled.

Tim quickly made his way to the door and grinned as his lover entered as soon as the door was open. The two men shared a quick kiss and made their way to the kitchen where Tim put the coffee machine on.

"Tony asleep?" Tim smiled as he felt Jethro's hands on his hips and a kiss pressed ti his neck.

"Yeah, went out like a light"

"What time is Abby getting here?" Tim sighed at the question as it brought to his mind the appointment. They'd decided to not bring Tony to the meeting. The way Marco had reacted at the hospital was still fresh in both men's mind, so they weren't willing to take any chances.

"In half an hour"

Gibbs nodded in understanding and moved his hands to rub the tense muscles of Tim's neck and shoulders

"I know you don't want to do this, but it was her will and we need to make sure that her wishes are being honored"

Tim groaned as the knots loosened under the ex-marines talented hands "I know, but it still sucks. Thank you for coming with me" Tim turned to face the older man, who pulled him in a tight hug.

"Anytime"

They drank the coffee in silence that was only broken by the sound of Abby knocking enthusiastically on the front door.

"You're early" Tim said as greeting when he opened the door. The goth just jumped to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I just wanted to see my favorite boys!" Then she noticed Gibbs standing in the hallway with an amused half smile on his face "Bossman! You're here too" She released Tim in favor of attacking Gibbs with a giant hug.

"Well someone has to make sure McGee survives his meeting with the sharks" Gibbs winked at his lover over her shoulder.

No-one knew about their relationship yet, and for the moment the two men were happy to keep things that way.

"That's good. I can't believe that the bastard would try to take the inheritance away from Tony! You two need to show him what happened when you mess with the baby and his daddy"

"Okay, Abs. Tony is asleep in his bed, I just fed and changed him so you should be fine for a while, call me if there's anything-" Tim was nervous both of going to the stupid meeting and leaving his son after being with him so much.

"I know Timmy, just go, well be fine"

The two agents turned to leave, but once they were by the door, Tim gave the older man a sheepish smile and Gibbs was confused for a few seconds until realization dawned as he saw his lover heading to check on the baby one last time before leaving.

Abby snickered at the exchange and took the opportunity to give Gibbs one last hug and whiper in his ear a plead to take care of the younger man.

Gibbs and McGee were the first people to arrive to the lawyer's office and they sat in the conference room where the secretary had directed them, waiting for the others to arrive. Soon Tim's lawyer came in and sat next to his client and after that Marco arrived with his Representative and they all sat in silence. Marco stared daggers at the two agents, obviously a little unsettled by Gibbs' presence but determined to hide it.

Antonia's lawyer arrived sat at the head of the table.

"I see everyone is present so shall we begin?"

At everyone's nod the man continued. "Okay then, as you all know, Mrs. Rossi made a new will about six months before her death, she willed all her monetary assets and one of her well lover medallions to her still at the time unborn son. Stating that she wanted her son to have something to remember her by. The rest of her possessions she left to her husband."

Marco stood up and slammed his hand to the wooden table. "That's crap! That bastard won't get a penny of the money! He's the reason my wife is dead, that little piece of shit"

Marco's lawyer pulled his client down and in hushed voice calmed the man down as Tim's lawyer kept a restraining hand on his own clients arm as it seemed as Tim might jump down the man's throat.

"May I continue?" The solicitor asked the men around the table. At the nods he continued.

"Mr. Rossi expressed his displeasure of the fact that Anthony has been named as one of the beneficiaries, and tried to get the will deemed null. However, there is no reason as to why, Anthony McGee-Dinozzo shouldn't get his in heritage. Mr McGee, The will states that as the boy's legal guardian, you will be over seeing the assets until Anthony either finishes high school, or turns twenty one. As there is o other matters, you may leave, and we can organize the details at a later date."

McGee shook the man's hand and looked at Marco sitting on the other side if the table, talking heatedly to his lawyer. A shiver went down the agents spine at the evil grin Marco sent his way. He felt Gibbs place a hand at the small of his back and steer him out of the room with his lawyer, but all he could think of was the grin on Rossi's face and the cold feeling that had settled in his gut. He glanced at his lover and saw the worry and a hint of anger reflected in the blue eyes.

Gibbs had seen the look on Marco's face too and now he saw his own thoughts reflected by the younger man's eyes _'this is far from over'_

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Please don't hate me, i know i've taken my sweet time with this chapter, but i had more trouble with this than i thought. I promise i'll try to do better, both with the speed of updating and the content of the chapter. I hope you enjoy. And i'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and are sticking with this story. So here is chapter 3:**_

When Tim and Gibbs got back to the younger man's house, Abby was eagerly waiting for news of the meeting.

"You're back! How'd it go? What did the evil man have to say?-" Abby's rapid questioning came into a halt when Tim gently grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Where's Tony?"

"In his room, I just put him down for a nap" Abby answered with a bewildered look on her face and she watched even more puzzled as Tim hurried to his son's room. She turned her eyes to Gibbs.

"What's wrong with him? Did something go wrong? Bossman, please tell me." Abby grabbed the older man into a tight hug before releasing him and leading him to the kitchen and thrusting a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his hands.

"Now talk" the goth demanded with her hands on her narrow hips, her earlier distress all but forgotten under her determined mindset.

Gibbs took a swallow of the coffee and raised a brow at the demanding tone of her voice but none the less filled her in on what happened at the lawyers office.

"- I know Marco has something up his sleeve but for now there's really nothing we can do. " Gibbs finished just as Tim appeared in the kitchen with Tony now wide awake in his daddy's arms. Jethro was glad to see his lover looking happily at the gurgling baby and whispering endearments to him.

"Oh Tim" Abby hugged Tim and Tony, being careful not to crush the little boy.

"Just say the word and I'll make sure the bad man disappears without a trace and never bothers you again!" Tim smiled slightly at the words and pressed a kiss to the Goth's forehead and pulled back slightly from the embrace.

"Thanks Abs, but right now there's nothing more to do but to wait and see what he's up to and make sure he can't hurt Tony" Tim tickled the little boys belly and was gratified when the baby giggled a little.

"But you can't do it alone! I mean of course your not alone because I'm here for you both and bossman will help too, but you're alone and you're not even seeing anyone so there's no one to share the load with so to speak."

Abby took a deep breath and prepared to launch to another rant, but Tim placed a finger to her lips and after looking over her shoulder at Jethro for permission and support, McGee moved a little closer to Jethro, who moved around Abby to stand next to the younger man.

"Thanks Abby, but I'm not as alone as you'd think" Tim smiled as Jethro placed a supporting arm around his shoulders. They'd talked about telling at least Ducky, Abby and Kate about their relationship on their way home from the meeting. If Marco was going to make a move, it would be good to have their friends' support.

The two men braced themselves and sure enough, they heard a squeal and found themselves engulfed in a huge hug, but again the lab tech was careful of the boy still nestled in his father's arms, happily trying to grab at Tim's tie.

"Oh my god I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you guys!" then she pulled back and punched both of the men on their arms before reattaching herself to them.

"I so can't believe that you didn't tell me! Wait, does Ducky know? Oh this is so sweet, now Tony doesn't have one but two daddies looking out for him. I so want to be around when he brings his first girlfriend home to meet the parents!"

Tim laughed at the Goths enthusiasm and Gibbs just rolled his eyes but there was certain fondness in his eyes.

"No Abby we haven't told Ducky yet, you're th first we told" Gibbs waited till the girl stopped squealing before continuing "I'll probably tell him tomorrow, but I would appreciate it if you'd talk to Kate for us."

Gibbs and Tim had both thought it might be best if Abby talked to Kate, they both knew that the former Secret service agent was an open minded person, but she was also a strict catholic and they had no idea of her views on homosexuality and furthermore, they didn't know how she'd react to a Boss being in a romantic relationship with a subordinate. So all in all, they thought it best to have Abby talk to her as her best friend and then they'd give her time to come to terms with it and hopefully it would be okay.

Ducky on the other hand would be easy. The older man knew all about Gibbs' Bi-sexuality and rule twelve was one of Gibbs' rules, and the older ME had no issues with disregarding some of his rules if he thought them unwise. And because Ducky was one of Jethro's oldest friends, it was just appropriate that Gibbs be the one to tell him.

"Yeah, i'll talk to her, but you do realize she'll want to hear it from you at some point? Oh I have to go, I promised to go bowling with the nuns today so I should get going. But you'd better e-mail me with the details like how long and since when this has been going on!" The last part was directed at Tim as the Goth prepared her departure and gave a kiss to 'her boys'' cheeks.

Before either men could respond, the Goth had made her way to the hallway and was heading out.

"See ya later, don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay!" And with those parting words she was on her way to the bowling alley.

"How much caffeine you think she's had today?" Gibbs asked with a smirk as he turned to his lover who was still a little dazed after the whirlpool that was Abby.

"I don't want to know, If I don't know I can't be held accountable for allowing her out of the door." Tim answered, noticing for the first time that his tie was wet from where Tony had managed to get his hands on it and had pulled it to his mouth.

"You mind taking Tony while I go and change?" Tim asked while holding the boy out to his lover who readily took the little guy.

"No problem, you can take a shower if you want, we'll be fine. It's not like we haven't been alone together before" With a smirk at his older lover who was now playing with their son's nose, Tim headed to grab a quick shower and change clothes. He was happy that Abby had accepted their relationship so readily and hoped that the others would be as accepting of them. He frowned as his thoughts turned to Marco and the meeting, he was hoping that the other man wouldn't do anything stupid, but he wasn't really believing that Rossi would let things go without a fight.

After Tim finished his shower and went back downstairs dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, he gave his lover a chastise kiss before shooing him upstairs to change out of the monkey suit. They'd been together for enough time so some of Gibbs' clothes had made their way to Tim's house and in his closet and some of the younger man's stuff had made a home for themselves in the other man's home, so both of them had change of clothes at the other's place, and of course there was stuff for Tony at Gibbs' house also.

Once both men were dressed in more comfortable clothing, they ordered Chinese, they just spent the rest of the day and evening doing ordinary stuff and just enjoying the peace and quiet of nice evening at home.

Gibbs decided to spent the night and when it was time for bed, the men got Tony ready for the night with practiced ease, the other making sure his diaper was clean and the other warming his bottle. Soon the two men were lying in bed, snuggled together, it still gave Tim a thrill to be one of the few people on the planet to know that Leroy Jehtro Gibbs, second B is for bastard, tough as nails ex- marine is a snuggler.

Tim smiled at the thought and gave a little huff of laughter with sounded suspiciously like a tiny giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, it was nothing, Good night Jethro" Gibbs was suspicious of the answer, but decided to let it go for now in favor of getting some sleep.

"Good night Tim"

Neither men had any idea that a car had followed them from the lawyer's office and it was now parked across the street and the man sitting inside was surveying the house. The man pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number, the phone was picked after the second ring.

"_Yes?" _

"You were right, they're together now and the lights went out just a few minutes ago"

"_You see anything useful?" _

"No, there hasn't been anything yet, but I'll keep watching"

"_Good, call me immediately if there's anything useful and we'll put the plan in action" _

"I will, they've bound to make a mistake sooner or later"

With that the phone call was disconnected and the man went back to watching the now dark house.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: I was having a bit trouble keeping up with Tony's age, but according to my thought process, Tony is about seven weeks old in this chapter and I'm sticking with that. **_

For the next week Tim and Gibbs both kept a close eye on the little boy that meant so much to both of them. Tim really didn't know what to make of Marco and not knowing what he was planning was driving him up the wall, it didn't help things either that he had a weird feeling of being watched and sometimes he thought that he caught Gibbs discreetly looking around, as if sensing the same thing, but neither men said anything.

The day after the men told Abby about their relationship, Gibbs told Ducky and his reaction was one of support and acceptance and to be honest, neither man had expected anything less. After all, the good old doctor had always been a good friend of Jethro's and was known for his compassionate nature so it was really no wonder that he took the news well.

Abby had told Kate about the two mens relationship and hadn't really shown other reaction than disbelief, but her actions spoke loudly. She demanded to talk to the two men and see them interact at home, she didn't know what to think, but the profiler in her wanted to profile the relationship and draw the conclusions based on that, rather than make hasty judgments she might end up regretting later on.

So Tim invited Kate, Abby and Ducky to a dinner with him, Gibbs and little Tony so they could ask questions if they so choose and generally just see that this really was happening and that they weren't ashamed of their newfound relationship.

Tim felt nervous as he puttered around in the kitchen. He'd ushered Jethro to the living room after he had tried to help, but the older man had just raised his hands in surrender, given his lover a peck on the cheek and retired to the living room with Tony.

McGee stirred the pasta sauce as he thought about the upcoming dinner. He wasn't really sure what to expect. They'd only been with Gibbs for little over a month, but it somehow felt right and neither man had any desire to have to justify their feelings to their friends, and it seemed that in Abby's and Ducky's case that wouldn't be necessary, but Kate was a different subject.

From Gibbs account, Tim had gathered that Kate had trouble coming to terms with their relationship, but there hadn't been any outright signs of disgust or hate, which is always a positive thing. Tim sighed as he prayed that tonight would help settle everyones mind, because the two men really didn't need the added stress on top of the one caused by Antonia's heritage and her husbands reaction to it.

He left the sauce to simmer and decided to put the pasta on after the guests arrived, so it wouldn't go soggy or sticky.

Tim went into the hall just as the doorbell rang and Abby bounced inside from the door that Tim had left unlocked so he wouldn't have to go and let the three people in individually but they could step right in.

The Goth smiled as she spotted her friend and ran to give him an hug.

"Timmy! How are you, I've missed you so much! Where's Tony and The Bossman?"

Tim laughed at her exuberance and returned the hug before leading her to the living room.

"You just saw us yesterday when you dropped by"

"But that was like 20 hours and 45 minutes ago!" she said with a pout on her lips that soon disappeared as she caught sight of Gibbs on the couch with Tony sitting in his lap.

"Tony!" She ran to the boy and lifted him in her arms and brought him close to her in a hug. She then leaned down and gave Gibbs a one armed hug while keeping Tony close before plopping down to sit next to him.

Tim came to sit next to her and held out his hands for the baby.

"C'mon Tony, you wanna show Auntie Abby the new trick you learned?"

Abby practically vibrated in excitement as she handed the boy over.

"A trick? What trick?"

"Well you'll just have to wait and see if he shows it to you" Tim said teasingly as he placed the baby on his front on the floor.

They watched in silence as the boy looked a bit lost, lying on his front on the floor after being in someones lap. He took a moment to contemplate this new situation before he started little rocking motions that looked like he was trying to do push-ups and lifted his head up slightly from the floor to look at the people on the couch. He made a cute little face that had Abby making awww noises and the two men smiling. Then he pushed himself so that he was able to turn on his back, which had the Goth squealing in delight and Tony himself looking a bit amazed.

"Oh God, he can turn over! Why didn't you tell me?" She punched both Gibbs and Tim on the arm, before going to tickle the boy's tummy.

"He just did it this morning for the first time" Gibbs heard himself defend their silence, and to be honest they'd been a bit surprised by the whole thing. Jethro thought how lucky he was that he had stayed the night so he hadn't missed one of the first milestones of the boy's development. Tim and Gibbs had both been amazed by the feat Tony had done, but the look of surprise on the little boys face as he took in the new position he had maneuvered himself in, it still made Gibbs smile as he remembered it.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening and Kate's and Ducky's voices coming from the hall.

Tim went to greet the two and directed them to the living room as he went to put the pasta on.

"Good evening Jethro And Abigail, and of course our little lad. I trust everything is fine with the lot of you?"

"Every thing's fine Duck. We appreciate you coming." The latter part of Gibbs' greeting was directed at all of the three people. He looked at Kate who was still standing by the doorway, a bit uncomfortable with the new situation.

"Kate! You have to see what Tony can do!" Abby broke the silence that had descended and motioned for the other woman to come over as Ducky took a seat on the couch next to Gibbs and the men watched the proceedings.

Once Kate was crouching next to Abby and smiling down at the little boy, the Goth turned him on his belly and they watched as Tony scrunched his face up in frustration at being back in the position he didn't like at all after his new found ability to escape it, so they watched as he started the push-up motions and with less difficulty than at the beginning, flipped himself over and onto his back.

"That's wonderful, seems that young Antony is developing at a normal rate, though maybe a tad early if you look at the average numbers, why I remember a baby who didn't get enough strength in his neck to make turning possible until he was over six months."

"Well, Tony is too eager to wait, I doubt he'll stay much on his front now he can turn over." Gibbs smiled down at the baby who was now being made turn over again by the two women on the floor.

Tim smiled at his lover as he entered the room and cleared his throat.

"Dinner is ready." He said as he came and picked up his son and led the way to the dining table, and motioned for everyone to take a seat and himself took Tony's bottle he'd warmed up and sat down next to Gibbs, who just plucked the boy from his arms as well as the bottle and told him to eat, as he Tim hadn't been able to eat all they from his nervousness.

"This looks splendid Timothy" Ducky complimented as he took some pasta and salad on his plate.

"Thanks, it's one of Antonia's recipes she thought me when we were dating. I though that it would be appropriate to make it tonight as we might not be sitting here without her influence." Tim smiled and looked at the boy, happily drinking from his bottle In Jethro's arms.

Gibbs finished feeding Tony and burped him before putting him to his seat on the floor with his blankie and a toy to keep him entertained while they ate dinner and made smalltalk. None of them breached the subject of the two men's relationship as if in silent agreement to enjoy the meal before that.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, the guest gave their compliments to the cook before they moved form the table to the living room and seated themselves around the room while Gibbs went and put coffee to brew and the tea kettle on. In the mean time Tim had gone to change Tony and put his down to sleep, as it was the boy's bedtime.

Gibbs returned with the drinks just as Tim came back for upstairs and together they dispensed the drinks before settling down to sit side by side on the love seat, facing the other people.

"Shoot" Gibbs said in his his usual brusque way and startled everyone in the room. He looked around at the faces of their friends and continued

"I know it came as a surprise to you all to hear that me and Tim are together, but now you've had some time to think about it and I'm sure you have things you want to know so just ask."

"I have no problem with the two of you and I have a weird feeling that you won't answer the questions I'd like to ask anyway" Abby said with a small leer that was directed at the two men and brought a blush to Tim's cheeks

"And as for me, there really isn't anything I need to know other than whether or not you two are sure about this and since I'd like to think I know both of you well, I'd be willing to wager that you have thought this through and are certain of your decision. I also wouldn't think that either young Timothy or you Jethro would step into this lightly when there is little Anthony to think about as well."

Jethro nodded gratefully at his friend who tipped his head in acknowledgment of the gratitude. When no one else said anything for a while Kate shifted nervously and cleared her throat.

"I know I haven't been too supportive since Abby told me about your relationship, but I have to say that it came as quite of a shock to be honest. I've always been thought that homosexuality isn't right and I never really could see why and seeing you three together as a family makes me question that even more. I still am not sure what to make of all of this, but I guess that it really comes down to are you two happy with your relationship?"

"We are happy Kate and I understand your need to adjust to this new situation, but I need to know if you'll be able to work with me and McGee after this?" Gibbs squeezed Tim's hand as he made his statement.

"This won't change anything at work, I still trust you both and respect your lead so that won't be a problem." Kate said with conviction, whatever doubts she may have of the two mens relationship would not affect her professional opinion of them.

Abby listened silently to the conversation but upon hearing the certainty in he friend's voice she threw her arms around Kate in a tight hug after making sure the other woman wouldn't spill hot liquid on herself.

"This is so great! I knew you'd be okay with it eventually!" Kate smiled at her friend and the rest of the evening passed with everyone being more relaxed after the issue had been dealt with. They had all decided it would be best to not parade Gibbs' and McGee's relationship around since all wouldn't be as understanding and accepting as their friends had been.

"Oh my, It's getting late now isn't it? Thank you so much for the wonderful dinner and company, but I need to get going."

Everyone seemed to just notice the time and after some goodnight wishes and hugs from Abby, the two men were sitting alone it the living room.

"That went better than I thought" Tim said as he snuggled next to his lover on the couch.

"Yeah, could have been a lot worse. I think it's time to get some shut eye, the dishes can wait till tomorrow" With that Gibbs got up and pulled his lover with him and continued to pull until he had the other man in his arms and their lips pressed together.

"Or on second thought I'm not sure I'm that tired after all" Gibbs said after the kiss and smiled at the sly look on his lover's face.

"Why, Jethro. Are you propositioning me?" Tim asked with a bat of his eyes. They may have been dating for a month and slept together in a strict sleeping sense, they hadn't really gone further than a bit of heavy petting and both men were thinking that they were ready to take their relationship to the next level.

"What if I am? What you gonna do about it?"

"I was thinking I'd take you up on your offer" With one last kiss the two men headed upstairs and closed the door after entering their bedroom.

The next morning after breakfast Gibbs left Tim's house to go back to his place for the day. On the drive to his house he thought about his and Tim's relationship and the fact that it felt so right to have a family once again.

When he got home he went straight to the kitchen and made some coffee. After the pot was ready he took a cup of the strong brew and drank a cup before gong upstairs. He bypassed the master bedroom door and went for the door down the hall, he paused just outside of it and took a deep breath. He pushed the down unwanted emotions that rose as he carefully opened the door.

He stepped into the room that once had been a vibrant pink and so full of life, but now was dulled by the layers of dust over the furniture. Other than the dust, everything was still in the places where his daughter had left them before her untimely death. Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut to hold back the tears that burned his eyes and turned to go out of the room to get boxes and cleaning supplies.

Kelly's room had maybe stayed the same on the surface but the memories it evoked were tainted, the room was a constant reminder to Gibbs of his failure to protect his girls and every time he saw the things still in the little girl's room, he was overwhelmed with sadness that hadn't been dulled by time.

He started methodically cleaning the room and organizing the things to the boxes, his relationships with Tim and the chance of being daddy again had made Gibbs realize that he needed to move on and making Kelly's room Tony's would be a good place to start. And really Jethro had come to the realization that he wasn't betraying Shannon and Kelly by making room for his new family, the room in it's current state represented failure and pain, neither was a feeling he wanted to associate with his girls, but he wanted to remember the good things that were in his heart and soul.

The memory of his first chance of happiness wasn't being forgotten or pushed away, but it would be cherished in his heart and he maybe he could share some of the good times with Tim and hopefully he'd get the younger man and his son to move in with him and then they'd be able to give the whole house a new life.

Gibbs worked methodically for hours, taking little breaks when he felt the guilt and pain get too much before continuing, but finally he was looking at the room that now had only a few furniture out and all other things packed into boxes. He loaded the boxes into his car, all but one little box that had the things he'd keep, and looked around the room one last time before going down and out to his car and driving off, he had some things to drop off and some painting an redecorating to do.

After Gibbs had left, Tim decided to take Tony out for a walk in his baby carriage so he put some warm clothes on the little boy and took him and the carriage to the porch and laid the boy in side. He was just about to close the door and get going when he remembered that he'd almost forgot his cellphone.

"Okay Tony, you wait here and Daddy will be right back" He put the brakes on and ran into the house and got his phone, but when he came back and came outside, he froze in shock.

The carriage and the boy in it, were both gone.

TBC...

_**A/N: yay! That was the longest chapter yet. Thank you for the reviews and special thank you to those who gave me a few pointers. **_

_**I'm not happy with some parts of this chapter, one of the things is Ducky's lines, i just can't seem to make them work. I don't know if it's the British mindset that i can't quite grasp, but i find him really really hard to write. **_

_**I probably won't have the next chapter up before the end of next week because I'm helping my friends move during the weekend and the beginning of next week (can't believe how much junk can two people gather...), but I'll update as soon as I get the next chapter written. **_


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs was just coming out from a hardware store with two paint buckets as his phone rang. He checked the caller id and his gut started went into overdrive as he saw Tim's name flash on the small screen.

"Tim?-" before he could say anything else, he heard the panicked voice of his lover speaking a mile a minute and only words he could understand were 'Tony' and 'only a minute' which made no sense to him so he barked the younger man's name and waited for him to calm a bit and talk.

"I lost him Jethro! I only came inside to get my phone and when I came back Tony was gone! I looked everywhere and he's gone!" Tim was sobbing by the end of the statement.

Jethro froze for a few seconds as the words registered. "What the hell do you mean he's gone? And what do you-" then realization set in and in his concern he spoke more sharply than he intended "Shit McGee, you left him alone? You left our baby boy alone outside! Did you call the police?"

"_I know, I'm so sorry Jethro I didn't think. It was just a minute! Anyway, Mrs. Morley called them when she saw a black clad man running away with the carriage." _

"I'm coming, I'll be there in twenty. We'll find him Tim and when we do, I'm gonna kick your ass for leaving him alone." With that Gibbs shut the phone and got into his car and started the engine. Screw twenty, he'd get to the house in ten.

Even thought the ride to Tim's house took only the ten minutes he'd thought, it felt like one of the longest of Gibbs' life. His mind ran through every possibility of what could have happened to the little boy and none of them were good. His mind flashed back to a call of the death of his wife and daughter.

Gibbs shook his head and pushed the thought away, Tim wasn't dead and neither was Tony, they'd get the boy back and Jethro would take his boys home and keep them safe. That was the thought on his mind as he pulled up in front of Tim's house and got out only to be rocked a step back as his lover threw himself at him.

"Jethro! I'm so glad you're here. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to lose him, I don't know what I'll do if- " Gibbs placed a finger on the younger man's lips to stop the rambling and wiped few tears away from the man's face

"Don't you dare finish that thought. We will find him, got it?" At Tim's tentative nod he tightened his arms around the man and pressed a barely there kiss to his temple before releasing him and looking around. He had spotted the police car when he pulled up, but now he took a good look at the two officers standing by the house talking to McGee's neighbor.

"What have they found so far?" Gibbs asked as he lead his slightly shaking lover towards the house.

"Not much. Irene saw the man take Tony, but she can't tell much about him, just that he was average built and clad completely in black, she said that he drove off in a car, but she doesn't know the model and didn't see the plates" Tim wasn't shaking as much as he finished the recount, thinking of the facts helped him ground himself and Jethro's presence helped to ease the panic.

"I'll talk to the cops, you go inside and call Ducky, have him tell Abby and Kate." Gibbs knew he didn't have jurisdiction over this so they'd have to let the police handle the investigation. It might be for the beast anyway, because the way Gibbs was feeling right at the moment, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't just go and find Marco Rossi and strangle him for organizing the whole thing. There was no doubt in his mind that Marco was behind this, but there wasn't any evidence to support that yet.

Gibbs hated waiting and right now it seemed that all he and Tim could do was to wait for the cops to find Tony and bring him back. He gave a feral grin as he walked towards the cops, he might not be able to investigate himself, but he would make damn sure that the DCPD went through everything with a fine tooth comb and that everything was and done as well as if he'd done it himself.

Ten minutes later Gibbs went inside and left the two uniformed men standing outside with their legs crossed to keep themselves from pissing their pants after the lecture they got form the ex-marine. He immediately went in search of his young lover and his heart broke as he found the man sitting on the rocking chair in Tony's room.

He went to the younger man and crouched down in front of him and took Tim's hand in his. He was still mad for leaving Tony alone even if it was for a minute, but even his short tempered mind recognized that yelling and blaming wouldn't help the situation any, and if he knew the man in front of him, he was beating himself up for the both of them. Jethro's suspicions were confirmed when McGee spoke in a quiet voice.

"They're coming as soon as they can... I shouldn't have left him alone like that, I just went to get my damn phone, it was just a minute and he was gone. I didn't protect him, I failed as a father." The sentences were broken and Gibbs had to strain his ears to hear the last of it, but the words confirmed that yes, Tim was beating himself up for the both of them.

"Listen to me Tim. You didn't fail as a father, you made a mistake. Granted the mistake led to Tony going missing, but you couldn't have possibly foreseen that. When we get him back, and we will, he will need his dad to take care of him and stop blaming himself."

Gibbs knew that Tim didn't really believe him, but there really wasn't much else he could say to make him feel better until they got their boy back. Jethro himself didn't really blame Tim as much as he blamed himself anymore. His first reaction to finding out about what had happened was to think how Tim had been so stupid, but the more he thought about it, the more he started to think about the fact that if he hadn't left that morning to go do some redecorating, maybe none of this would have happened.

The men stayed like that for a while, just thinking of what if''s and the likes, but at the same time they drew strength from each other's presence.

TBC...

_**A/N:Okay so that was a really short filler to show a bit of Gibbs' reaction. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, they make me want to write more :) **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Okay, so i was supposed to post this chapter later this week, but i got it written so i decided to put it up since you people asked for an update so nicely ;) The next chapter will be up later this week, I'm thinking Saturday seems like a good day doesn't it? **_

_**Some of the mistakes you might encounter are the result of my writing program jumping between Finnish and English rendering the spell check kinda useless at this point... (but most are just me being me ;D ) Now I shall shut up and let you get on with the reading... Enjoy!**_

It didn't take long for Abby, Ducky and Kate get to McGee's house after hearing the news. When the two men heard the car pull up to the drive way they made their way downstairs just in time for Tim to catch the black mass that was Abby, who came barreling from the door and threw herself at the young man.

"Oh God Timmy, i can't believe this happened! How could someone do this? I mean Tony hasn't done anything to anyone and someone kidnapped him and are doing god knows... NO! Not thinking about that, positive thoughts, we'll get him back won't we?" The goth went from hysteric to determined and to distressed so fast that it made Tim's head spin and seeing this Gibbs stepped up and extracted the Goth and pulled her into his arms.

"Well find him Abs" And he whispered to her ear so quietly that no-one else heard the words "And you need to keep it together for McGee"

Gibbs pulled back and met the labtech's wide eyes and placed a kiss on her forehead as she nodded her understanding and went to pull Tim to sit with her into the living room.

Jethro smiled sadly as he watched his docile lover being shepherded to sit on the couch as Abby tried to support her friend. He turned back towards the door to see Ducky and Kate standing by the door and he waved them in.

"I'll go make coffee" With that he turned and headed for the kitchen.

Kate and Ducky shared a look before they headed separate ways, Kate joining the two younger people by the couch and Ducky following his old friend to the kitchen.

Dr. Mallard stood by the door for a while, just watching Jethro making coffee and putting the tea cattle on.

"I'm sorry to hear about young Anthony's disappearance, how are you two holding up?"

Gibbs didn't turn around from his task as he answered "I'm fine, Tim is taking this hard, he's blaming himself for all of this"

"Should he be?" Ducky asked as he moved to stand a bit closer to his friend's back.

Gibbs sighed and hung his head a bit "It wasn't his fault, not really. If Marco is behind this like I think, he would have found a way to get to Tony. I just-"

"Jethro, you are not fine. You might have forgiven Timothy his lack of thought concerning Anthony's safety, but now you need to allow yourself the same forgiveness, though I dare say that there isn't anything to seek forgiveness of, but knowing you, there is much undeserved guilt resting on your shoulders" Ducky placed one of his hands on Gibbs' shoulder in a show of support "I took the liberty of informing the good Director of what's going on and he made a call to have Fornell take the case from then local police and handle it as he knew your team wouldn't be able to work the case and he didn't want you shooting the poor officers in your frustration"

Gibbs turned sharply at that, it spoke a lot of his mental state that he hadn't even thought of calling Fornell and asking him to handle the investigation.

"That's good, I trust Tobias more than the cops." He made no comment about the guilt he was feeling and Ducky saw through his attempt to get out of talking about it and with a sigh Ducky let the subject drop, promising himself to bring it up again if the need arose, and knowing Jethro, they would be talking again soon.

The two men waited for the coffee and tea in comfortable silence while in the other room the three younger people were sitting in not so comfortable quietness which was only broke by the tic of the clock.

Abby had tried her best to cheer McGee up, but really how can you make someone feel better when their child is missing? It just wasn't possible. So Tim had tried his best to smile at his friends and act like everything was fine when all of them knew that nothing would be even close to fine before Tony was back to where he belonged.

Kate was relieved when Gibbs and Ducky emerged from the kitchen with coffee and tea for everyone. She didn't really know what to say or do and it was making her feel a bit irritated to be so hesitant. It was a different thing to deal with the parents of a kidnapped child on the job, but when it were your friends and colleagues, it was a completely different matter. There was no reassuring that she'd do her best to make sure the child was returned safely and no words to express how sorry she was for the pain the two men were going through without offering platitudes and sounding a bit rehearsed. So she sat in the armchair and accepted the tea Ducky handed to her with a smile and settled to being a silent support and let the others do the talking for the time being.

Gibbs took a seat next to Tim on the couch and handed his lover a cup of coffee before wrapping his now free arm around the younger man's shoulders.

"Has there been any news yet Jethro?" Tim asked hopefully from his lover, but his expression fell as he caught the sad shake of Gibbs' head

"Not yet, but Tobias is on the case now and I trust him to find Tony"

McGee didn't seem convinced but remained silent. He knew that if he asked, Gibbs would go and find Tony himself and he knew that it was selfish, but Tim really needed Jethro to be there and ease the worry that was eating at him. Tim looked at Jethro and saw the struggle the older man was having with having to sit and wait while the faith of their son was in someone else's hands, but he knew as well as the others that it wasn't wise to let Jethro handle the investigation, if for no other reason then for the fact that any suspects probably wouldn't survive the interrogation. And as he had already confessed to himself, he was glad to have Gibbs be there with him.

They all sat in silence, all lost in thought and silently praying for the safe return of the young boy they had all grown attached to. Even Abby was being uncharacteristically quiet and once in a while she unconsciously squeezed one of Tony's plushies she'd found on the sofa and taken to her lap.

The five people waited for a long time with no news. Tobias had called with an update at one pint, but there really wasn't anything new to tell so it hadn't improved the mood of the waiting people. Finally when it was starting to get dark Gibbs tried to send everyone home, but none of them were willing to leave the two men alone, especially as McGee was getting more and more depressed by the hour and Gibbs was getting pissed with the lack of progress.

Finally Ducky had to leave to take care of his mother, but he promised to be back in the morning and made Gibbs promise to call him if there was any news. The two women refused to leave so Gibbs brought out pillows and blankets so that one of the women could sleep on the couch while the other could take the spare bedroom.

The night was restless for them all, but to Gibbs and McGee it was the hardest. When the two men had been getting ready for bed, Tim had moved to go and check on Tony only to stop by the doorway and turn tear filled eyes to his lover.

"He's not there" With that Tim had broken down and Jethro had guided him to the bed and held him until both of them fell into a restless sleep.

In the morning a very subdued bunch again met in the living room of McGee's house. Abby and Kate has woken early after a night of not so restful sleep and decided to make breakfast for everyone. Ducky had just arrived and was sitting by the kitchen table, talking with the women as Gibbs and Tim came down.

"Morning Jethro and Timothy, I hope you two got some sleep last night" Ducky said to the two men, but the darkness under their eyes spoke of a night spent tossing and turning and worrying.

Silently all of them took some breakfast Kate and Abby had cooked and said a quiet thanks to them, before going to sit by the dining table.

Gibbs watched as Tim pushed his eggs around the plate and was just about to tell him to eat when his phone rang. He didn't bother looking at the caller id, but just barked his usual greeting.

"Gibbs"

"_Jethro, we found him" Fornell's voice came from the phone and caused him to momentarily freeze before the words finally registered. Gibbs looked at his lover an took his hand as he responded._

" You found Tony? Where is he?" Abby squealed with delight as she heard the words and the other people in the room breathed a sigh of relief and Tim felt tears fill his eyes but he held them back.

"_He was brought to Bethesda and he's in the children's ICU" _

"What? What the hell did they do to him? Why's he in the ICU? Did you catch the kidnapper?" The words made everyone pause in their relief and Abby hugged Tim who had went pale at his lovers words.

"_We didn't, the boy was found this morning by a couple walking their dog, he was still in his carriage, but it seems that he was just abandoned in a park and he was there the night. The doctors are concerned with his breathing and the possibility of pneumonia so he's in the ICU- _"

Gibbs didn't give Fornell the possibility to say more as he just barked a quick "We're on our way" And closed the phone before turning to his lover who had extracted himself from Abby and had gone to get their jackets and car keys and was ready to go.

In Bethesda Fornell sighed as Gibbs hung up on him. Well it might be better to tell the rest of the news in person. He wiped a weary hand over his face and sat down on one of the waiting room chairs and looked up to see the CPS lady who had talked to him earlier sitting on one of the chairs waiting for McGee to make an appearance. Fornell shook his head as he thought of Gibbs' and McGee's reactions to what the lady had to say about the custody of one Anthony McGee-Dinozzo.

TBC...

_**A/N2: if someone didn't get it or doesn't know: CPS is child protective services. **_


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't take long for Tim and Gibbs to get to the hospital, followed closely by Ducky, Abby and Kate. The group took the elevator to the second floor that housed the ward they were looking for. Gibbs had been holding a hand at the small of his lover's back the whole walk from the car and had tried his best to offer him silent support, but when they excited the elevator to see a grim Fornell waiting for them, the hand moved from it's resting place to deliver a squeeze to the younger man's shoulder and Jethro smiled slightly when Tim lifted his hand to deliver a reassuring squeeze of his own to the hand now on his shoulder.

The group walked over to the FBI agent and Gibbs turned to his companions

"Ducky, find out what you can from Tony's doctor." The older ME nodded and went in search of said doctor. "Abby and Kate, go sit in the waiting room" Abby looked like she would protest, but seeing the desperate look on McGee's face and the stern one on Gibbs' she nodded wordlessly and took Kate's hand to lead her to 'the room of endless worrying' as she had dubbed it in her mind.

The three men watched the women go before turning back to the matter at hand

"What's going on Tobias?" Gibbs asked his FBI counter part when he found he couldn't read the look on his face.

"The doctor hasn't told me much about Tony's condition other than he's stable at the moment, though they had to put him on a ventilator to help his lungs." He ignored Tim's gasp and continued, not daring to look at the younger man as the pain in his eyes would just make this all so much harder. He did make a mental note of the fact that Gibbs out his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer.

"He did tell me that there were bruises and cuts on the boy's face, most likely a result of being slapped on the face and the trouble with his lungs is only partly a result of him being left outside for the night for there were also signs of strangulation." Gibbs closed his eyes at the statement and he pulled his now sobbing partner to him.

"We need to see him Tobias" The FBI agent closed his own eyes as he saw anger, but also uncharacteristic desperation and sadness in the other man's eyes and he swallowed hard and prayed for forgiveness for the fact that he was about to tell more bad news to the man he liked to consider a friend.

Tobias opened his mouth to crush the two men's hope of seeing the little boy, but before he could get a word out he was interrupted by the CPS lady appearing behind him

"I'm afraid that isn't possible at this moment, I presume that you're Mister Timothy McGee" The woman said as she stepped up to the trio and eyed the younger man who was still in Gibbs' arms.

"It's Special Agent. And just who the hell are you? Why can't I see my son?" The anger in Tim's voice surprised everyone as just a few seconds before the man had been sobbing in Gibbs' arms but now he was staring angrily at the woman who was telling him he couldn't go and see his son who was struggling in some hospital room.

"I'm Joanne Shiers, I'm with the Child Protective Services. I think maybe we should move this chat to somewhere more private shall we?"

"Child Protective Services? Why are you here? I haven't done anything wrong and I want to see my son." Tim pulled away from Gibbs who still had a hand around his shoulders and he made to move around the woman, but she held up a hand to stop him.

"I would advise against that. I'm here because there has been a complaint made against you and your, err.. partner. The one who filed the complaint has expressed his concern for young Anthony's welfare according to them, the abuse and neglection the boy is suffering in your hands made it possible for someone to take the poor boy."

Gibbs let out a growl as the woman talked and he could see the shock on his lover's face. "Just wait for a damn minute-" He started but was cut off by Joanne

"I believe you're _Special Agent_ Gibbs" The title was said with an air of sarcasm directed at the distraught younger man. "Now normally in these kinds of situations we would conduct an investigation of the allegations, but right now it seems that they are correct. The marks on the poor boy seem to indicate someone trying to forcefully silence the child and that matches with the complaint made against you two. Coupled with your less than ideal family situation I feel that I have no choice but to remove the child from your custody."

Both men were shocked into silence which brought a smirk to the woman's face.

"Fortunately for the boy, the real father has decided to step up and file a law suit in which he asks for the custody of the child."

"His real father.. But I'm Anthony's real father! Antonia told me she was certain, she told me..." McGee was shaking his head and trying to convince himself that none of this was happening, but it didn't work. He looked at his lover, hoping the older man would make it all go away and make it right, but Gibbs seemed to be just as lost as he felt.

"Seems that Mister Rossi isn't as convinced of the fact, so a paternity test will be conducted to determine the real father. Until that time Anthony will remain in this hospital and once the matter of both the paternity and the abuse allegations has been settled, Antony will go home with his new father."

Fornell frowned when he heard the certainty in the womans voice that the matter would be solved in favor of Rossi, but he held his tongue and looked worriedly at his friend who seemed to be overwhelmed both by anger and by desperation. The woman seemed to sense this as well as she decided to take her leave.

"The hospital staff has been informed by this, and they have been instructed to not let either of you in to see Tony." With that she left with her heels clicking on the linoleum floor and a smirk on her face.

The three men remained standing in silence for a second before the arrival of Ducky brought them back form their thoughts and with a growl Gibbs hit his fist against the wall closest to him, he repeated the process and watched in pained satisfaction as blood appeared on the wall.

"Oh Dear, what happened Jethro?"

"Rossi happened! That son of a bitch is trying to take Tony away from us and damn him but he's succeeding!" Tim didn't say a word as his lover started the explanation but the last few words had him in the older man's face.

"Don't you dare say that! Tony isn't going anywhere." And as fast as the anger came, it drained from him and was replaced with the desperation he had been feeling for a while now. "I can't lose him, I'm his father" Tim's voice seemed to die down and he buried his face into his lover's shoulder.

Fornell related the details to Ducky, not noticing that the two women who were supposed to be in the waiting room had come to see what the commotion had been about and were listening in as well.

The exclamations of disbelief from the two people however brought it his attention that Abby and Kate had been listening as well. Te young Goth looked at his friend crying and whispering swearwords in his lover's arms and she took in the bloodied knuckles of the man holding Tim. She didn't want to interrupt them so she went to Ducky and threw herself into the ME's arms.

"Please Ducky, tell me it isn't true. Tell me they aren't taking Tony away."

"Shh, my dear girl. I have no doubt that they will try, but do you really believe that Jethro would let them win without a fight?" He smiled reassuringly at the young woman even though there were doubts of Gibbs' ability to make this right.

"Ducky, did you find out anything?" Gibbs asked quietly over his lover's head.

"I'm sorry Jethro, but the CPS worker has forbidden the doctor of discussing the details with anyone but herself"

Gibbs just nodded his head and motioned for everyone to head out, it went unspoken that they would all gather at NCIS to find out as much as they could in order to fight the CPS and Marco Rossi.

Fornell followed after the other people, leaving Tim and Gibbs standing alone in the corridor after promising to do whatever he can to help. Jethro acknowledged the promise with a nod of his head. He watched the man leave and was just about to lead Tim to the elevator when one of the nurses locked eyes with the lead agent and motioned for the two men to follow her.

Gibbs recognized the nurse but couldn't place her, but none the less he guided Tim after the nurse, ignoring the puzzled look on his face.

The two followed the short nurse with a long hair wrapped to a bun who motioned for them to keep quiet. They walked down the corridor until they reached the door to a linen closet. The nurse looked around before unlocking the door and ushering the men inside before following them and closing the door.

The nurse turned to the two men after she had clicked on the light and now that Gibbs looked at her more closely he recognized her for being the nurse who had mostly taken care of Anthony after he had been born.

"I don't know if you remember me, I'm nurse Maria, I took care of Antony when he was at ICU after his birth"

Now that the two men looked more closely at her, they recognized her as the same nurse who had been present nearly every time Tim had held Anthony in his arms and she had been the nurse In charge of the boy's care, alongside the doctor's of course.

"I remember you, but why did you drag us in here?" Tim asked, confused by the nurse's behavior.

"I heard what happened with the kidnapping and the CPS thing and I don't believe for a second that you would abuse that little boy." She tried to smile reassuringly at the two men, but couldn't really pull it off upon seeing the pain in their eyes.

"I've been assigned to be Tony's nurse during his stay here and I have to tell you that I'll do whatever I can to make sure you'll be able to visit him, I'm just sorry it'll be short, but that's all I can manage." She saw the hopeful look on McGee's face and the suspicion on Gibbs'

"Couldn't that get you fired?"

Maria took a deep breath and looked to meet Gibbs' eyes

"Yes. But I started this work because I want to help those little ones and right now Tony needs his father and his love and I'm gonna do my best to make sure he gets the love and care he needs." She looked at Tim "And I heard that Mr Rossi claims to be the real father, but we did the test right after Tony was born. I'm not sure you remember because you were so focused on your son. But there is no doubt that you're his father."

The nurse was surprised when Tim moved forward and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug "Thank you so much. We know how much you're risking for us and I don't know how to thank you" She pulled back from the man and looked at the older agent who was now sporting a small relieved smile.

"You're welcome. I'm afraid however that I can't take you to see your son until later tonight. The night shift starts at nine there are one nurse with me on this ward during the shift and there will also be a doctor who makes his rounds just in the beginning of the shift. If you'll wait until ten o'clock I will be able to sneak you in and let you see him for a few hours. I'm sorry but unless the visiting restriction is lifted, that's all I can give you"

There was real regret in her eyes and both men saw it.

"We just need to see him and we're grateful that you're willing to give us a chance to at least be there with him for a little while. " Gibbs reached to shake the nurse's hand and the two men turned to exit the closet, but Maria stopped them with a hand on their arms and opened the door herself. She poked her head out and looked up and down the corridor before motioning the men out and following them.

She stopped them once more in the corridor. "I know they didn't tell you much, but Tony will be fine. His breathing was what worried us the most, but it seems that it's getting better. I'll tell you more tonight. Oh, and I almost forgot!" She dug a notebook from her pocket and scribbled her number on it before handing it to Tim.

"Text me when you're outside the ward and I'll let you in as the doors are locked during the night."

With that she walked down the hall and towards the nurses station.

The two men looked at each other and they both had the same expression of astonishment on their faces . They headed for the elevator so they could get to the head quarters, but their earlier desperation was now pushed a bit further back in their minds as a new thought had taken residence in the front of it. Both men were thinking the same thing: 'Maybe all isn't lost yet.'

TBC...

_**A/N:Hiya folks! So first of all, I'm sorry for the delay, apparently Saturday wasn't as good day as I thought. I'm again struggling a lot with this fic, I know where I want it to go, but my muse isn't so-operating like I wish she was... like it was totally her idea to make the CPS lady such a bitch... It's always interesting when you know exactly what you're gonna write and then the result is nothing like you thought.. **_

_**And I really don't know if this make sense to anyone else but me, so I'd appreciate it if you would tell me if this fic is getting way too confusing and not sense makingly bad. (yeah yeah, I'm again trying to make bad English into an art form... ;D ) **_

_**and finally, the next chapter will be up at the end of this week at the latest. I'm now giving myself more time to write so then I may be able to post early instead of late ;)**_


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay what have you got?" Gibbs asked as he walked into Abby's lab with McGee hot on his heels. During the car ride to the headquarters Tim and Jethro had talked a bit and brought their emotions under control. They both knew that in order to get Tony back before anything else would happen to him or he would be taken away permanently, they had to have their heads on the game and they couldn't afford to have their feelings cloud their judgment.

Abby jumped as she heard the man's voice as did Kate and Ducky who were both down in the lab as well.

"Gibbs don't scare me like that!" In contrast to her slightly annoyed words she rushed to the two men and threw herself in Gibbs' arms. "We haven't found much yet, cause we haven't been down here long enough for that, but I think something hinky is definitely going on." She extracted herself from the older man and went back to her computer "I'm trying to get my hands on the alleged abuse report, but haven't had much luck yet, but I will get it."

"Jethro, When did the woman say the report was filed?" Ducky asked from his standing place by the desk where he was watching the two women work on the computers.

"She didn't say. Why?" The ME frowned in thought and clucked his tongue

"Well as I understood it she has already removed Anthony from Timothy's custody, in my experience that is not possible before a proper investigation can be conducted or if the child is in risk of serious harm, but seeing as young Anthony is in the safety of the hospital, there really was no need for such extreme measures."

Everyone thought of the words for a while until Abby's exclamation shook them from their thoughts.

"Got it! Lets see, the complaint was filed by Marco Rossi on the day of the kidnapping. It says here that he claims to have seen you Tim slap Tony in the face to stop his crying! It also says that you've strangled him! But that's not true how can he say things like that!" Abby looked at Tim and saw the shock she was feeling reflected by his face. There were murmured curses from Gibbs and a quiet 'oh dear' from Ducky as they processed the information.

"Is that it?" Gibbs asked finally

"No" Abby shook herself out of her shock and continued to read the document "There are also mentions of McGee leaving Tony alone for long periods of time and the like. The last thing is a mentioning of Tony living in 'unhealthy conditions caused by the relationship between Agents Gibbs and McGee' and here is a note of the fact that Rossi claims to be Tony's real father and demands custody."

"Is there anything about who ordered Tony to be removed from me and McGee?" Abby shook her head.

"No, but check this out. This was made on Friday and the kidnapping wasn't until Saturday. According to the log the report was written by Joanne Shiers at five o'clock on Friday, but the report wasn't officially filed before Saturday morning at the time of the kidnapping!" Abby pounced in her seat as she said the last part and she looked expectantly at the other people in the room.

"Why wouldn't she the file the report immediately? I mean that kind of abuse should have made the case urgent" McGee cringed as he said the words because it made him think about everything his little boy had gone through and that just made him think of the fact that he couldn't be there to take care of his son. He shook his head and concentrated back to the matter at hand as he heard Gibbs talking.

"She couldn't risk her supervisor ordering immediate actions as at that time there hadn't been any abuse done yet. She had to make sure that by the time the report was filed there would be something to report. So she must be working with Marco. "

"Boss I checked her bank records and there was a sizable deposit to her account just hours before she filed her report. I tracked the source to be Marco Rossi." Kate called from where she was working on one of Abby's computers.

"So now we can connect them together, but why would they go to all of this trouble? Once the hospital determined that Tony's injuries are from the kidnapping Tim should be cleared of the abuse charges, and now that we have a way to link Marco to Shiers we know how he filed the bogus charge, but what was he hoping to gain" Gibbs paced the floor as he spoke.

"Maybe he didn't think of that" Abby suggested as she kept tapping on her keyboard.

"No, there's something we're missing"

"Jethro" Came McGee's hesitant voice from the other side of the room. Gibbs turned to his lover, not having noticed the younger man moving to work on the computer over there. He saw how pale the man had gotten and mover closer to then younger agent.

"What is it Tim?" Gibbs asked with concern in his voice

"It's gone" The younger man whispered so softly the others had to strain their hearing to catch the words.

"What's gone?"

Tim turned sad eyes to his boss and the older man could see tears glisten in his eyes.

"The paternity test, the results are gone I hacked the system and they're gone"

Jethro couldn't believe his ears. So the only evidence they had of Tim being Tony's dad was gone.

"What are you talking about my dear boy?" Ducky asked as he watched as Gibbs bent down to survey the computer screen and curse loudly as he saw the truth in McGee's statement.

Gibbs raised his head an looked at the expectant faces and told about Maria and her willingness to help

"She told us that a paternity test had been done and it showed that Tim is Tony's father. Now the records are gone. So we've lost our trump card for the moment. Abby try to contact CPS, make a complaint of Ms Shiers and make sure she's taken of from this case. Kate look into Marco Rossi, fnd out his motivations for doing this and see if any of the medical staff in ICU are connected to him in any way, I don't want any surprises."

The two women nodded and went to work trying to make things better and make sure that Tony would be returned to his real dad.

"Is there anything I can do Jethro?" Ducky asked as he approached the two somber men.

"Thanks Duck, but there really isn't anything more to do than to wait."

TBC...

_**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I had to stop this chapter here and I'll continue in the next chapter, it's kinda the only way I could think of to make the transition from this scene to the next work. (so next chapter we actually get to see Tony! Yay so there's something for you to look forward to) **_

_**Thank you for all the reviews and alerts they're very much appreciated :) **_

_**Next chapter will be up this weekend so Saturday or Sunday! (though technically it is now Saturday, but since it's only like ten minutes into Saturday I'm not sure it counts...) **_


	9. Chapter 9

Gibbs pulled up outside of the hospital Tony was in and looked at his companion. The evening had been quiet and both men had been too involved in their own thoughts to worry about making conversation and neither had been willing to voice the fears that were welling inside of them.

The day had gone slowly as they had been searching for a break through in their case against Rossi, but there hadn't been much progress made. Kate had been able to determine that none of the staff if the ICU was at least directly linked to the man, but as they really had no real cause to search all of theirs bank accounts, any one of them could be on Rossi's pay roll.

Abby had been working hard all day, but as it was Sunday, she hadn't been able to contact Shiers's boss and so she had to wait for the next day to make the complaint of the woman. When Gibbs had told everyone to go home and get some rest, Abby'd launched herself at him and Tim and told them to tell Tony that she loves him and give him a kiss from her as she couldn't do it herself.

After the promise had been made to do just that, they'd all headed home. Once the two men had went back to Tim's place, they didn't really know what to do with themselves, so they had just sat on the sofa for some time deep in thought. At one point Gibbs had gone and made them something to eat and they had eaten in silence.

Jethro was still looking at the younger man when Tim turned tired eyes to look back into his eyes. They stared at each other for a while, neither saying anything and hesitantly McGee took the other man's hand in his and gave it a squeeze before pulling out his cell and sending a text to Maria to let her know they had arrived.

The silence in the car was tense as they waited for Maria to send back a text, telling them it would be okay to come up. Even though she had told them to wait outside of the ICU they felt it would arouse less suspicion if they waited by the car till they knew Maria could let them in.

With every passing minute the faith of the two men faltered more and more. They finally couldn't stand the heavy atmosphere in the car so they got out and leaned against the side of the car side by side.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, both men jumped as Tim's phone beeped to indicate a new message.

"She'll need ten minutes before she can come to the ICU's door" McGee told Gibbs as he sent an affirmative message back to the nurse.

Gibbs just nodded his head in acknowledgment and they made their way inside and as imperceptibly as they could, they made their way to the second floor and once there, waited outside the ICU doors.

Tim was nervous as they walked through the halls of the hospital. Around every corner he thought there would be someone stopping them from seeing Tony, finally as they stood in front of the locked sliding doors he felt a bit of the tension leave him, but it wasn't until they saw Maria through the galls that he truly let himself heel some relief.

"Sorry it took me some time to respond, we're a bit short on staff tonight so the doctor in charge of this ward has to look after another ward too. But I'm sure you're eager to see your son so follow me" The nurse turned around and began walking without waiting for a response. She'd seen the look on the men's faces and thought it best to let them see Tony first before saying anything else. She bit her bottom lip as she led them down the hall.

They walked down the long hallway until Maria stopped outside one of the rooms and made her way inside. She mad sure the two men followed her before closing the door and turning on few small lamps that wouldn't wake the now sleeping child.

Tim and Gibbs had silently followed the nurse and when they reached the door to the room they knew Tony must be in, they could hardly contain their excitement at being able to see the little boy soon . As soon as the lights were on and they could see the sleeping child, they made their way to his bedside and Tim carefully placed a hand on the baby's head and tears glistened in his eyes as he finally could lay eyes on his precious child. Gibbs stood next to him and for a while they just looked at the little boy, but when Tim's eyes found the bruise on Tony's cheek, the bulky oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and the marks visible from his neckline, he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

"Jethro, look what they did to him" His voice shook a bit, but he refused to let any of the tears escape that pooled in his eyes. He looked up and saw that Gibbs' eyes were suspiciously wet as well.

Gibbs kissed the side of his head before bending down to kiss Tony's forehead "Well get them Tim, they'll pay for this."

Maria watched the men and wondered for the millionth time how anyone could ever think about taking the little boy away from his fathers. It was obvious to her that both of the men loved the child deeply and the pain in their eyes as they saw the damage done was breaking her heart. She wiped away a tear that slid from her eye and cleared her throat.

"Anthony was taken of the ventilator he was hooked up to, this evening when the doctor deemed his lungs fit to handle the task of breathing on their own. He still needs the mask though and probably will for some time."

"What's the extent of the damage?" Gibbs asked in a controlled voice as he looked back down at the boy.

Maria took a deep breath and explained all the injuries "As I told you his lungs need some help, he was strangled which caused some problems, but the good news is that there is no brain damage or any other permanent trauma caused by that. As I understood he was also kept outside the night and though he had been dressed pretty warmly, the chill of the night caused him to develop a mild cold which put additional strain to his lungs. We're monitoring his closely in case he develops pneumonia, that was actually one of the reasons the doctor wanted to get rid of the vent as the longer a patient is on it, the more likely it is for pneumonia to set in, we're also giving him antibiotics to hopefully keep any further illness at bay. Other than that there are some bruising and a few minor cuts that will heal by themselves. He was a bit dehydrated, but we're giving him IV fluids" as she spoke she picked up Tony's chart she's been carrying and looked up some results before continuing.

"His blood tests were clean and the x-rays showed that there was no broken bones or anything like that. All in all he should be fine and we'll move him into a regular room in a few days if there is no additional problems."

The two NCIS agent were horrified by everything that the boy had gone through, but at the same time they were relieved that it seemed that he would be getting better.

"Can I hold him?" Tim asked and his voice cracked a bit at the end. The need to hold his son was overwhelming, but he didn't want to hurt the boy.

The nurse bit her lip before nodding. "You can hold him, but you need to be careful of the mask and his IV so it would be best if you sat right next to the bed on the chair."

She moved forward and arranged Tim to sit so that his position was to her satisfaction. She then carefully lifted the boy who whimpered softly in his sleep, the sound muffled by the bulky mask.

"I need to check on one of our critical patients, will you be alright for a few minutes?" She really did have a patient to check, but more than that she wanted to give the men some alone time with Tony before they had to leave.

"We'll be fine" Gibbs said from where he was crouching in front of his lover and running his hand over the baby's head to sooth the still slightly whimpering child.

Neither man really paid attention to soft click of the door that signaled the nurse's leaving, both too consumed by their relief to see and touch the small child and reassure themselves of the fact that he's gonna be okay.

Tim felt himself relax for the first time since he'd returned to the porch to find Tony missing. He looked down at Jethro then at the boy in his arms and smiled slightly.

"I never would have thought I could do this, being a dad. Antonia told me I'd be great at it, but I really didn't see myself with a kid. I don't think I knew how much he means to me until when I noticed that Tony was missing and later when that CPS woman told me I'd lose him. I realized then that I can't think of life without him in it anymore." He looked back at Gibbs who was now watching him closely.

"I would do anything to make sure he's happy and safe. We need to make sure no-one takes him away from us." Though Tim's eyes were filled with tears, they were also filled with determination and love, the latter of the three directed both at the child in his arms and the man in front of him.

"We won't let him go, we'll find a way" Gibbs promised as he stood up and moved to stand behind Tim and gave him a hug.

They settled in silence both men content to just watch the little boy, they knew that there were things they needed to ask Maria and they would have to go back to work the next day and fight to keep their boy, but on that very moment they were just happy to hold the boy and revel in the fact that for the moment he was safe with them.

The men were so focused on their moment that they didn't notice Maria standing in the doorway looking at the little family. She wiped away a tear that slid from her eye and felt her guilt overwhelming her.

When she had seen the two men at the hospital earlier that day, she'd thought that bringing them to see the poor little boy, she could ease her guilty consciousness, but it wasn't enough. Everything she had said about wanting to help the little children in her ward was true and she was ashamed of the fact that she had broken her nurses vow and helped in taking the child from his father. She thought that telling Tim that he was Tony's father would bring comfort to him even though she knew that the records wouldn't be there anymore to verify anything.

She looked at the small child in Tim's arms and the look of love directed at him from the two men and felt her resolve crumble. She stepped away from the door and quietly shut it. With determination in her steps she made her way to the supply room. There was on thing she could do to make things right, she just hoped that it would be enough.

Maria gathered the supplies and made her way back to Tony's room where she quickly got in after making sure no one saw her.

Gibbs and Tim both looked up this time as she entered and they frowned when they saw the needle pack and other things in her arms.

"What's going on Maria?" Gibbs asked as he stood before his lover and Tony, shielding them from any harm.

The nurse had a few tears running down from her eyes and she looked a bit frantic as she looked at the two men.

"I'm so sorry" She said and dropped the supplies on a small table next to Tony's bed

"Why are you sorry?" McGee's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched the nurse.

"I- I was the one who made Mr Rossi aware of the nature of your relationship when Anthony first was a patient here. I didn't mean to do it, but it slipped out once when he asked for an update on his condition. I didn't think much of it, but he soon asked a lot of questions about you, and I tried to answer him as best as I could. " She looked up to meet the accusatory eyes of the two men and saw the disbelief and anger in them and she continued.

"I thought he was just worried about the boy and I kept him updated. A few days ago he came to me and told me he knew about the trouble I was in financially and he promised to take care of it if I agreed to help him. He asked me access to the hospital's records and I gave it to him. I only realized later that he used me to remove the evidence of you being this boy's father. Today they came by and took a sample of his blood and took it to a private laboratory and In the morning he'll get a court order so you won't be able to get near him and can't take any blood to do another paternity test."

Tim hugged Tony closer to his chest as Maria's explanation went further and Gibbs' eyes were shooting daggers at the woman.

"Why did you let us see him then if you're working for Rossi?" The anger was carefully controlled as Gibbs spoke, cause he knew if he let a little of it out, it would all come rolling from him and he didn't want to shout and wake Tony. So he clenched his teeth and balled his fists and tried to hold back his temper.

"I really think it'll help Anthony to have you close and I was selfish, I thought I could get some kind of absolution by letting you see him" Maria straightened and brought her eyes to meet them of the ex-marines

"But I know it's not enough, there's really nothing I can do to fix this, but I have to do what I can."

She took the needles and a few vials along with the other things she had brought and started to organize them on the desk so that everything was within easy reach.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gibbs asked, he still stood blocking her access to both Tim and Tony and if she thought that he'd let her anywhere near Tony with a needle, she was sadly mistaken.

"Marco has Tony's blood sample, I know that Tony is not related to him in anyway so he'll have to fake the results if he wants to prove he's Tony's father. I'm taking a sample of his blood so you can take it with you and get it tested. I don't know id it'll help since you can't actually prove that your sample is the real one as opposed to the one Rossi has, but maybe it'll help if you somehow manage to get a warrant for DNA testing."

She looked at Gibbs for permission and after a long hesitation and silently consulting each other, both men nodded slightly and Tim laid the boy back on the cot. Both of them kept a close eye on Maria as she filled two vials efficiently with Tony's blood and afterwards placed a bandaid on the puncture site. Tony had cried when the needle had first pierced his skin, but Tim had soothed him through the whole thing and the boy had quickly settled and once it was over, he went back to sleep.

Maria labeled the vials and after packaging them for the journey handed them to McGee.

"I know what I did was wrong and I hope that everything works out for the three of you."

She watched as Gibbs and McGee said their goodbyes to their son and her heart ached as she saw the pain in their eyes as they had to leave the boy behind.

"I'll take care of him for tonight. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but tonight he's safe" She told the men and didn't blame them when her declaration was met with two doubtful set of eyes.

"I will hunt you down myself if anything happens to him" She smiled sadly as the men left the room and she followed them to the ICU door to let them out. She watched as Gibbs pulled out his cell and heard him shout to someone to get back to work so they can run the tests on the blood before the men disappeared from view.

She watched them go and knew she had made the right decision in the end. She just hoped it wasn't too late. After she had helped Rossi, she had seen a glimpse of the madness his wife's death had caused in him and she knew he'd do anything to reach his goal. She stepped into the hall and took the phone still in her pocket and called the man.

"Mr Rossi, I just wanted to inform you that I will no longer be in your service." She didn't say more and just closed the phone against Rossi's angry shouts

Maria was quiet for the rest of her shift and didn't talk much to her co workers as the weight of her guilt still was heavy on her shoulders. Finally in the morning she did her final checks and after debriefing the morning shift of the night, she changed her clothes and started the walk home. She was just passing an alley next to the hospital when someone pulled her into the dark and narrow passage.

She looked at the man and saw Marco Rossi standing before her with a slightly dazed look on his face.

"You should really reconsider helping me, I will make it worth your while I assure you" He tried to convince the nurse.

"I will not help you destroy their lives anymore than I already have. I'm done" She turned to leave the alley, but Rossi pulled her back. She slapped Marco, trying to get him away and Scratched his cheek in the process as deeply as she could, but the man had too tight hold on her arm.

He looked in her eyes and with a grin took a knife from his pocket and placed the tip to her chest right over the spot where her heart was beating wildly. "Yeah you're done. I won't let you spoil my revenge on the little bastard that murdered my wife and the son of a bitch who fathered him. I will make them pay." With his last promise he plunged the knife in her abdomen and watched with satisfaction as the knife disappeared to the hilt in her flesh. He twisted the knife until a small trickle of blood escaped the corner of her mouth. He left the knife buried in her stomach as he let her fall to the ground and gave her a final kick to the ribs before walking away.

Maria lied on the ground bleeding from the wound and she knew she likely wouldn't survive so with her last strength she took out her cellphone and searched for McGee's number that she had saved in her contacts list. She pressed the call button and once the younger man's irritated voice came from the other end she said the words she needed to get out.

"I- f- fought him" She gasped as a wave of pain hit her and more blood came into her mouth. She heard McGee talking to someone before he told her to tell him where she was and what happened. She thought she heard him say something about them coming to her but she wasn't sure anymore. There was only one more thing to say so she gathered the last of her reserves as a tear trickled down the side of her face and a small smile touched her lips. "Absolution" the word was just a whisper, but still audible to McGee who listened with wide eyes as her phone clattered to the pavement.

TBC...

_**A/N: Okay now I'm convinced... my muse is definitely high with something, I think she's been smoking frogs and licking stickers again... How else would she make me write something as evil as this? *sigh* Well anyways I'm thinking a few more chapters and I'll be ready to wrap this baby up if there's no more evil twists *glares at the muse* **_

_**The third part of this series will be a series of one shots of McGee's little family and if you have suggestions or things you'd like to see, I'm welcoming ideas though I can't promise that I'll be able to write all of them in it... **_

_**Next chapter will be up... lets say Friday okay? School starts tomorrow do I won't be able to write as much as now so the updates might take me a bit longer...**_


	10. Chapter 10

Gibbs had whipped out his cell as soon as he and Tim were out of the Intensive Care Unit and dialed the number for Abby, knowing that the Goth wouldn't be asleep yet or even if she was, she wouldn't mind getting up for this.

"_You have reached Abby, the queen of the lab and the mistress of the-_" Her exuberant hello was cut off by Gibbs' terse voice

"I need you back at the lab."

"_Well good evening to you too Gibbs. I'm actually in my lab and before you say anything I know you told me to go home but I couldn't sleep knowing that Tony was still in danger of getting shipped off to god knows where and I just wanted-" _

" Abs, take a breath, we'll see you in ten" Gibbs hung up the phone before Abby could respond and he and McGee got in his car as they had reached the parking lot during the call.

"She already in?" McGee asked as he buckled up as the car screeched away from the hospital's lot. It didn't take a genius to figure out that since Abby lived quite a way for the navy yard that in order for her to be there in ten would mean that she was already there.

"Yeah." The terse answer told Tim that Gibbs wasn't in a mood to talk. Tim did a mental snort at the thought of Gibbs in a talkative mood.

In all seriousness though Tim could understand his lover's silence. Maria's revelations and actions had given both men a lot to think about and the stress of not knowing what would happen with Tony was adding to their already heavy minds. To top it all of Tim was still carrying with him the guilt of leaving his son alone and essentially getting him kidnapped. He had known that Marco was planning something and his actions had given the man a prime opportunity to make his move and get his hands on the innocent little boy and hurt him.

Images of Tony's bruised neck and face came to his mind and as if sensing where the young man's thoughts had gone, Gibbs took his hand in his free one and gave it a reassuring squeeze. McGee turned bright eyes to the older man and gave him a small smile that the man saw from his peripheral vision and returned.

The silence lasted for the whole drive since neither man really felt the need to say anything. When Gibbs had to extract his hand form the other man's in order to work the stick shift, Tim mover his to rest on his arm so that they were physically connected the whole drive. Both men drew strength from the other and as they reached the navy yard, they both felt in control of their emotions and had processed the events of the day to their best ability.

The two agents made their way to the elevator and pushed the button for the lab. Once the car started moving, Gibbs pressed the emergency stop button and turned to his companion who just stood there watching him.

"You holding up okay Tim?" Now that the ride back had helped to clear his own mind the senior agent could concentrate on making sure his lover and agent was holding it together.

"None of this is making sense. I mean Marco is going to a lot of trouble to get Tony away from us and I just can't see why. I mean I'd get it if he'd do some little things to piss me off and maybe even try through official channels to get Tony, but he kidnapped a child and abused him, not to mention that apparently he's going to fake a paternity test! And he's resorted to Blackmail and bribing. Why would he do that?" Gibbs watched as Tim started pacing in the small confines of the elevator and thought that it was only logical that his lover's thoughts mirrored those of his own.

"I don't know, Maybe he just couldn't handle his wife's death and somehow blames either Tony or you for it" He stepped into the younger man's way and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"But it doesn't matter right now, all I need to know if you're doing alright and after we've brought the samples to Abby we can try to dig into his motives more." Gibbs looked the other man straight in the eyes and tried to convey his determination to get their boy back with just one look.

"Yeah, I'm not okay but I'm as good as I can be, I'll be better once I have my son back."

"Well get him back, I lost one child, I'm not losing another" Gibbs said as he reached to flip the elevator back to life and turn away from his now a bit shocked agent. It wasn't like Tim didn't know that Jethro cared for Tony, but hearing him say it in do plain terms made his heart warm and his determination to settle this that much greater.

When they reached the lab they could noticed the absence of the pounding music that normally assaulted you as soon as you got of on Abby's floor, but this time there were gentle and more melodic tunes coming from the lab. The men exchanged a puzzled glance before entering the Goth's domain.

Both men were fully expecting to find Abby hunched over her desk working on her computer, but instead the girl was jumping around the lab with her usual bouncy way even if the music was a far cry from he usual death metal and the like.

"Bossman! And Timmy!" She cried as she noticed the men and launched herself at them giving both a quick hug before dragging them towards two stools.

"What's with the music Abs? And how many caff pows have you had?" Gibbs asked as he was being shepherded towards the stool and he tweaked one of the Goth's pigtails as he was pushed to sit.

"I'm sending positive thoughts and vibes to Tony and I thought that some music might sooth him and I really didn't think that scaring him with some heavy metal would be a good idea. And I've had only three drinks since I came back here so not much more than usual" She shoved Tim to sit as well and didn't notice the baffled look on the younger man's face or the amused look Gibbs was sending her.

"Okay spill, why do you need me in the lab and how'd it go with the nurse? And hows Tony? Ooooh did you bring me a gift?" The last part was asked as she caught sight of the package with the blood samples.

"Maria gave us samples of Tony's blood and I need you to test it and compare the DNA to McGee." Abby took the samples and set to work getting a DNA from them and putting rest of the samples to her small evidence fridge.

Gibbs watched as she worked and at the same time filled her in on everything that happened during their visit to the hospital not leaving out any details.

"That bitch!" Abby exclaimed as Gibbs finished his recount of the events and Maria's explanations. McGee shook his head and looked at both of the other occupants of the lab.

"I don't think she's a bad person, she was desperate and made a bad choice. God knows everyone has regrets and things we wish we could change, but she tried to make it better the only way she could." Tim thought of his own regrets and thought how he'd like to go back and change things, but as he defended the nurse's actions and understood some of them, it didn't mean he approved.

Gibbs shook his head, he understood McGee's thoughts and even agreed with him to some degree, but in the end he just wasn't willing to forget and forgive that easily.

"But Tim! If she had kept her big trap closed maybe Marco wouldn't have had so much ammo against you and maybe if she hadn't been feeding him info he would have given up." Abby wasn't ready to give in, but Gibbs quieted her down with a look that brook no argument. He knew where McGee's thoughts had again strayed and the more Abby pressed the point of Maria's errors, the more Tim would fret over his own mistakes. He wished he could take away all of the guilt Tim was feeling, but unfortunately there really wasn't much he could do but to be there and support the younger man and hope that once Tony was back with them, the guilt would go away.

"Abby, Ducky will take a blood sample from McGee in the morning for you to compare Tony's to. I don't want to use the one on record because it might have been tampered with. You mind if we grab a few hours of sleep in your office?" Gibbs gave a pointed jerk of his head in the direction of Tim who looked exhausted after the last few days.

"Of course you can. Take the futon, I won't be sleeping yet anyway and I can grab a few hours of shut eye after you." Gibbs nodded his thanks as he stood up and pulled Tim to his feet.

"C'mon Tim, lets get some sleep"

"What about Marco's-" Tim tried to protest not wanting to sleep when he could be doing something to help his son.

"It can wait a few hours Tim, we can't really do anything before we get the test run and can talk to the people at CPS" After his protests had been cut off Tim let himself be taken to the office and he watched as Gibbs spread the futon.

"Come on" The older man ordered as he laid down on the futon and held a hand out to Tim who took it and laid down next ti him with his head on Jethro's shoulder. Gibbs wrapped his arms around the younger man and they both fell asleep quickly as the stress of the past few days and of the hospital visit took their toll on the exhausted duo.

Both men slept deeply and neither woke up as the door to the office opened and a dark figure came inside and snapped a couple of pictures of the sleeping couple that was snuggled tightly together. Abby grinned as she excited the room and closed the door behind her leaving the two men to their slumber.

She looked at the photos on the screen of her digital camera and smiled at how adorable the men were together, but the smile faded as she couldn't shake the feeling that the picture was incomplete. She sighed as she hoped that Tony would soon be brought back to where he belongs so that the picture would be whole again.

TBC...

_**A/N: So as you see this chapter was pretty much a filler, but you gotta write what you gotta write ;) Anyways next chapter will have more action I promise. **_

_**School started and I've been messing with the new students all week and I'm thinking some of them are completely loco, but I'm thinking you have to be a bit wacko to become a nurse... at least that seems to be the case with every nurse student I've encountered :D And of course you all have noticed that I have a few screws loose... Anyways, I'm thinking the next chap will be up... Next week, maybe Monday or Tuesday. If I get some writing done tomorrow I may be able to post over the weekend. **_

_**Thank you again for all the reviews and alerts! Hello my name is esprit and I'm a reviewaholic (what do you mean that isn't a word?) Yep, this happens when you post new chapters at two in the morning... was that a thunder? *goes hide under the bed* **_


	11. Chapter 11

Ducky arrived early the next morning as he had a body from another team's investigation to work on, but as he walked into autopsy and switched on the lights he had a fright as he saw McGee sitting on one of the autopsy tables.

"Good heavens Timothy, You very nearly caused me to expire from a heart attack. May I ask you what you are doing here sitting in the dark this early on a Monday morning?" Tim had nearly jumped of from the table as the Medical Examiner's arrival had startled him from his thoughts. After he and Jethro had grabbed a few hours of sleep Gibbs had headed to get coffee and breakfast, but Tim had needed some time for himself an so had headed down to the morgue to wait for Ducky's arrival.

Tim smiled sheepishly at the older man before speaking "Sorry about that Ducky, just needed some time and privacy to clear my head"

Dr Mallard hung his coat and walked to his office motioning for McGee to follow him. "Why yes, considering all the events of the last few days I guess it's no wonder you'd need a bit of space for yourself. May I ask how your visit to Bethesda was? I trust you got to see young Anthony. Would you care for a cup of tea?" He asked as he went to put on the kettle he had in his office.

Tim nodded his thanks for the tea offer and as Ducky motioned for him to take a seat he did as directed and explained the other reason for his early morning visit. "Yeah, we went to see him and he's doing well considering the circumstances" He went on to tell about Maria's involvement in the whole thing and finally told the ME about her attempt at helping "That's actually the other reason I was here. We were hoping you would take a sample from me so we could compare it to the once we have from Tony." Tim took a deep breath after the lengthy explanation and again nodded his thanks as Ducky handed him a cup of perfectly made tea.

"Oh my, of course I will take the sample for Abigail to run." The elderly ME took his own cup of tea before sitting down and offering his guest a cookie from a tray, which the younger man readily excepted with a soft 'thanks'

"I cannot phantom what on earth the poor nurse was thinking breaking your confidentiality and furthermore endangering the hospital's records by allowing Rossi access. Well I guess she was desperate and thought she was doing the right thing in the beginning, but "I'm sure she will be properly chastised for her lapse of common sense." Tim sighed

"Yeah, I don't think Gibbs is willing to let this go, I just don't really care that much." At the other man's dubious look he continued hastily "Don't get me wrong I'm not saying I'm not pissed that she reported some things to Marco and helped him, but right now I just want my son back home and with me, Maria did something she regrets and I think she truly didn't mean any harm so as far as I'm concerned all that matters is that she tried to correct her mistakes and as long as I get Tony back, I won't harbor any hate towards her."

"Well I believe you have your priorities in order then. Shall we get the matter of collecting the blood sample over with?"

"That'd be great Ducky, Thank you"

It didn't take long for the ME to gather what he needed to draw the blood and soon he had two vials of blood for testing.

"There we go, I'll just label these and bring them to the lab for you. I do hope you will get this matter resolved quickly so you can bring little Anthony home as soon as he's better."

Tim smiled at the other man and with final thanks headed for the bullpen.

When he reached his desk it was half past six and only Gibbs was sitting and working at his desk, Kate probably wouldn't be in for at least an hour.

Tim nodded to his boss and extended his arm a bit to indicate that he had talked to Ducky and the sample had been collected. Gibbs responded with his usual curt nod and the two men went to work to look at any and every record they had of Marco Rossi.

It was just after seven when Kate walked in and with wishes of good morning went to her own desk to continue from where she left of the previous evening.

The team worked in silence for a while until McGee's cell rang. He checked the caller Id and upon seeing that it was Maria, his irritation of the fact that they didn't have anything concrete yet made his

voice terser than usual.

"What do you want?" The terse question made Gibbs look up as he very rarely heard his lover be so abrupt with anyone but his curious look changed to one of concern as he saw McGee pale.

"It's Maria somethings wrong with her." Gibbs motioned for Kate to start a trace of the call as he listened to Tim try to get the woman to tell him what had happened and where she was, but obviously she wasn't answering him.

The team leader saw McGee's eyes widen at whatever he heard from the phone and he looked at Kate to see if she had the location. Her triumphant expression was answer enough.

"Maria we're coming to you, just hold on." He saw from the corner of his eye as the other two members of the team grabbed their gear and he did the same while holding the phone between his ear and shoulder. He heard the last word spoken by the nurse and his already wide eyes widened more and he barely registered the sound of her phone clattering to the pavement and the line going dead.

"Kate give me the address" Gibbs ordered as they excited the elevator as it reached the parking garage. Kate gave him the location before going to sit on the back seat and letting McGee have the front one.

Gibbs started the car and glanced at his agent sitting beside him, he noticed the slightly dazed look and decided that it would best to just get him to focus and deal with the rest later so he didn't feel like a complete bastard as he barked to the distracted man.

"McGee report!"

Tim jumped slightly as he heard the command and hurried to tell the others of the call.

"The nurse called me and told me that she fought him, I think she's injured badly." He swallowed as his mind supplied him with the gurgling sound of her breathing. Gibbs glanced at his agent, but upon seeing that he wasn't going to say anything else settled his attention back to the road.

It didn't take long with Gibbs behind the wheel for them to reach the opening of the alley the call had originated from. The agents got out and quickly drew their weapons before entering the alley. They cleared the space before focusing their attention to the woman lying on the ground with her long hair in a tangled mess around her head.

McGee was shocked and so stayed frozen to his spot, but Kate moved quickly with Gibbs and they knelt next to the still figure, but the closer they got the more obvious it was that they were too late, which was confirmed as Agent Todd felt for a pulse and shook her head as she found none.

Gibbs stood up and angrily kicked the side of a building before telling the female agent to call Ducky and secure the scene. He then turned to McGee ready to issue an order, but upon seeing the state of him, walked towards the younger man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Tim, you okay?" The man in question shook his head slightly to clear it and focused his eyes to the gruesome sight of Maria lying in a pool of her own blood, a knife still embedded in her stomach. He shuddered before turning his eyes to meet Gibbs' sympathetic ones.

"I'm good." He had trouble processing the fact that the nurse he had been talking to earlier was lying dead on the ground. He had seen many crime scenes and some of them were a hundred times worse than this one in terms of brutality, but still when you knew the person whose body you were gazing at. It made the whole scene so much harder.

"Ducky is going to be here soon. Go and see if you can find any witnesses" Gibbs watched as Tim nodded and left the alley. The team leader knew that the younger man was having mixed feelings towards the nurse and seeing her dead wasn't going to help those emotions so he wanted to give him something to do outside of the actual scene so he could get back his composure, thought he really doubted that there would be any witnesses at this time of the morning.

He himself got their kit from the trunk of the car and worked with Kate at taking pictures and bagging and tagging evidence until Ducky arrived and he left Kate to continue the processing.

"Well what do we have here. Oh my, you poor dear, lets get you looked at so we can get you of this dirty alley now shall we?" Ducky made his was straight for the body and his assistant brought the gurney after him. "Do we have an ID yet Jethro?"

"Yeah, meet nurse Maria Summers" Ducky looked up surprised from where he was inserting the liver probe.

"And does she happen to be the same nurse you met last night and who gave you Anthony's blood samples?"

"The one and only"

"Well that explains the expression on Timothy's face when we came past him. Now lets see" He pulled out the probe and looked at the reading "According to her liver temperature she hasn't been dead for more than half an hour. How on earth did you get here so fast?" Ducky didn't look up from his examination, but the disbelief was clear in his voice.

"She called McGee, from the DOD I'd say she died during that call or right after."

"Oh dear. Well it seems that the cause of death is as you might first surmise, the stab wound to the abdomen, as you can see the wound is fairly large, and I would have to say the knife was twisted to cause this much damage, but I can tell with more certainty after I've had a chance to perform the autopsy."

"Thanks Duck" Gibbs moved away as Ducky and Gerald started to get the body ready for transport.

Kate take the evidence down to Abby and fill her in on what's happening, also tell her to fill you in on what happened last night at the hospital" The last part was added as an afterthought as Gibbs parked the car into the NCIS parking garage and he realized that Kate didn't have all the info yet.

The female agent nodded and climbed out of the car and after taking the small box of evidence from the back seat with her, made her way to the lab.

"You holding up okay?" Gibbs asked his lover as they were left alone in the car. When there wasn't an immediate answer he looked at the younger man and squeezed his shoulder.

"Um, yeah, I'm just a bit shocked by what happened" Tim wasn't feeling guilty for Maria's death 'cause he knew there was nothing he could have done, but still the sounds of her labored breathing and the fact that those wore her final breaths haunted him, as did her final words _'absolution'. _The small space of the car felt suffocating so as quickly as he could, McGee exited the car and leaned against the side of it.

Gibbs didn't say anything about the fact that Tim's hands were trembling slightly but instead placed a hand at the small of his back and guided him to the elevator.

The rode in silence to the bullpen and once there, Tim moved to his desk while Gibbs took the stairs to the directors office to update him on everything that was going on. It took him over an hour as it seemed that every answer he gave to Morrow, ignited at least three questions until he had told the man almost everything from the moment Tony had been born to the very moment they were currently living.

When he exited the office he had to stop on the top of the stairs to get control of the blush staining his ears pink. Gibbs shook his head with a slight smirk as he thought how well their director played the don't ask don't tell-game, because Tom his old friend had subtly congratulated him on making a move on Tim and becoming, in a same bargain, a daddy, but Director Morrow had been clear to not ask and keep Gibbs from telling.

"Going to see Ducky" He announced to his agents who were sitting by their desks, but as he walked past them, Tim sprang up and followed him to the elevator.

Gibbs sighed and as the doors closed and they were alone in the elevator, he turned to his partner. "You sure you want to come?"

"Yeah" Jethro nodded his head and trusted the younger man's judgment. Tim gave him a tiny pleased smile and soon they walked into the morgue side by side.

"What have you got Duck"

"Well Jethro, it seems that my preliminary findings at the scene were correct and the poor girl died of the stab wound. She also has two broken ribs and a bruise on her arm, consistent with the idea of someone holding her tightly" McGee was silent and his eyes kept staring at the woman that now was covered with a sheet all except her head and he could see her peaceful expression and that coupled with the words from Ducky that next filtered into his mind made him gasp.

Ducky had just told them how Maria had obviously fought back and had scratched her attacker so they could identify the attacker from the DNA. He said that the sample was already with Abby for matching when the older men heard a gasp from Tim's direction and turned their eyes at him.

"Are you quite alright?" Ducky asked with a slightly worried tone and Gibbs just moved closer to the man.

"She told me she fought back, she told me on the phone-" he took a deep breath before continuing "I this was her absolution"

Tim watched as realization dawned in Gibbs' eyes.

"I'm afraid you lost me dear boy" Ducky said as he looked at the two men.

"She gave us our boy back." Gibbs turned slightly sad eyes to Ducky as he thought what the woman had done. "The DNA will prove that Marco isn't Tony's father as well as put him away with murder. He will never get Tony or hurt him again." And that thought brought joy to all occupants of the room and the three men held a moment of silence in the honor of the woman lying in front of them, who had made a mistake but sacrificed everything to make it right.

TBC...

_**A/N: so now we have all the pieces so to speak so all we need is to put them together and wrap this up. The goal: To finish this story before the end of next week, then I can really start writing my NCIS/supernatural crossover and the third part to this series. **_

_**And if anyone's interested.. it wasn't thunder :D (if you don't get it, don't worry, neither do I ) **_


	12. Chapter 12

After McGee and Gibbs came up from the autopsy they started working on finding Marco's whereabouts. They didn't worry about the CPS lady as Abby had promised to deal with the matter of ht complaint and until the results from the DNA tests came back, there was really nothing they could do but to try and track down the man behind all of their trouble and make sure that once they were ready to apprehend him, they knew where to find him.

Gibbs had phoned Fornell and told him everything because as much as Gibbs would love to bust Marco and do the interrogation, he didn't want to risk the man walking on a technicality or something so Tobias would handle it, even if Gibbs and his team would be present at the apprehension and offer the FBI agents back up.

The lead agent looked up when he heard the elevator ping and saw a woman in a smart suit heading towards their part of the bullpen. The woman stopped right in front of McGee's desk and addressed the three agents.

"Good morning, I was told I could find Agent Timothy McGee here" Tim looked up slightly wearily but after sizing up the woman, stood up and offered her his hand.

"I'm Timothy McGee, how may I help you Ms-?"

"Hartley, Mia Hartley from the child protective services." The woman shook Tim's hand with a smile, but the smile faded when she noticed how pale he'd gotten.

"Um, Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

"You can use the conference room 1" Gibbs said from where he had moved to stand next to the younger man's desk to offer an image of an united front to the woman in front of them. "Mind if I tag along?" He asked the woman who narrowed her eyes at the fact that the innocent question was made to sound more like an order to let the older man come with them.

"And you are?" Hartley was a small and slightly stocky woman who had a warm and friendly face, but right that moment her eyes were narrowed and she looked like she was trying to see straight into Gibbs' soul with her piercing eyes.

"Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, Agent McGee's boss" Gibbs puffed his chest out slightly and in and other situation Tim would have laughed at the way Jethro was gearing for battle and the way his eyes grew confused as the woman's face melted into a warm smile was even more hilarious.

"Ah Agent Gibbs, I was hoping that you might join us, so could we move this to the conference room?"

The men just nodded and led the way to one of their conference rooms and took a seat at the end of the big table as the woman took a seat at the side of the table.

"First of all I would like to offer you our greatest apologize on the behalf of Ms Shiers who, I can assure you have been removed from her job pending further investigation. And I would like you to extend our thank yous to miss Scutio for sending us the evidence she had gathered." The agents shared a smile of relief and nodded their thanks to the woman sitting next to them. Both of them relaxed as they realized that this woman was nothing like the earlier hag who had been working for Marco.

"Ms Shiers breeched protocol on many occasions considering your case and I would like to tell you that I have reviewed your case and have talked to Anthony's doctor who confirmed that the injuries the little boy sustained are from the time of the kidnapping and there were no older injuries. So I removed the restriction that didn't allow you to see young Anthony. But there still is the matter of custody."

Both men tensed at that "But I thought-" McGee started only to be cut of when Hartley held up a hand.

"Mr Rossi has asked for the custody of the young boy and have made a claim of being his biological father. We need to do the appropriate tests and determine the truth behind the statement before deciding anything. I won't lie to you, even if the test proves that you are Anthony's father, there is still a chance that the custody will go to Rossi because at the time of Anthony's birth he was married to the mother of the child. If however it is proven that Rossi was the one behind the kidnapping, there is no question about custody and I can say with certainty that you will be granted the guardianship of Anthony."

the woman stood up and gathered the papers she had been scattered in front of her during her speaking.

"I would like to ask you Agent McGee to come to the hospital later today for a paternity testing. Mr Rossi delivered us a document stating that he is Anthony's father complete with the test results, but it is protocol for us to run our own tests, especially in a case where the other party has been known to not be one to follow procedure."

"We will be going to see Tony shortly and I can give the sample then." The woman smiled at them as she heard Tim's statement

"You will both be going?" The men glanced at each other but neither said anything "There was a part in the complaint filed against you about there being something unhealthy going on between you two, I just wanted to tell you that the original complaint was removed and only the part of Mr Rossi seeking custody was filed and I must have forgotten to put in a note about that accusation." She winked as she handed McGee a card for a doctor who would collect the blood sample from him before leaving the conference room.

Tim and Gibbs sat in stunned silence before McGee groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"What's wrong Tim?" Gibbs asked as he noticed the change in his lover.

"Just thinking that I just let Ducky draw blood from me for nothing and I have to let the doctor at the hospital do it again"

Jethro chuckled and squeezed the younger man's shoulder before getting up and heading for the door.

"Lets hope that Tony hasn't inherited your fear of needles"

Tim just glared at the older man before following him out of the room and down to the bullpen muttering that he doesn't fear needles just doesn't want them sticking him unnecessarily.

Neither man could pay attention to work after the meeting so only half an hour had gone by when they were on their way to the hospital to see Tony and for McGee to give the blood sample. When they made their way to Tony's room at the ICU McGee kept complaining how he now had matching holes in both of his arms, but all of that was forgotten s he caught sight of his son lying in his bed.

The men made their way towards the cot and both smiled as they saw that Tony was awake and looking at them with his big green eyes.

"Hey there little man" Tim said as he reached to run a hand over Tony's head before moving his hand to hold Tony's little fist in his. Their visit was cut short as Gibbs' phone began to vibrate in his pocket and he moved to the hall to take the call. He gave a soft kiss to the little boy's forehead and motioned for Tim to follow him and as soon as he excited the room he answered the cell.

"Gibbs"

"_Gibbs! I got the results from the skin cells and blood you found under the vic's fingernails. The DNA came back to one Marco Rossi, I'm not sure yet why his DNA even is in the system as he doesn't seem to have a criminal record, but it's him. And that's not all, I found two types of blood on the knife, of course there was Maria's, but on the handle there's a small sharp edge that had blood on it, and that too matched Marco!" _

"Good work Abbs, send the results to Fornell and tell him to meet us in the bullpen."

In the end apprehending Marco turned out to be very anti climatic. The man had been at home when Fornell and one of his agents and the NCIS agent had went in with a warrant and to Gibbs' disappointment he had offered no resistance but rather gone with them smirking, until he heard the charges against him that consisted of murder and kidnapping among other things, which made him a bit more unwilling to go with the agents, but at that time he was already in cuffs and being led to Fornell's car.

They headed for the FBI headquarters for the interrogation, but Fornell allowed Gibbs to accompany him as long as the NCIS agent promised to not ram his fist into the man's face. Marco cracked more quickly that any of the agents had anticipated and his confessions revealed the damage done to his mental state by the death of his wife.

"You know it wasn't about the money, That little bastard killed my wife and the SOB who fathered him was just as much to blame as the little shit. They both deserve to rot in hell for what they did to my beautiful Antonia."

"What about Maria, the nurse you hired to get you access to the hospital's system"

"She wouldn't help me anymore, I needed to make sure she wouldn't get in the way of things, she didn't like my plans for revenge, but that doesn't matter now does it? She was in the way and I had to show her what happens when you cross me." There was a glint in Marco's eyes and as the two agents excited the interrogation room they shook their heads at the insanity of the man.

"You know he's lawyer will probably plead for insanity" Fornell stated as they walked towards the observation room where the other agent's were waiting.

"Don't care. He's going away for a long time, be it mental institution or prison, as long as McGee and Tony are safe I don't give a damn of what happens to him."

That evening McGee and Gibbs went back to the hospital and this time their teammates came with them. They were all overjoyed to hear that the little boy had been moved from the ICU just an hour earlier to a children's ward as the boy's breathing was now more stable and didn't require as much monitoring even if he was still on the oxygen.

They all piled into the room the little boy was in and Abby gasped and her eyes filled with tears as she caught sight of the bruises on the little boy and the mask still on his face. She turned and gave Tim a tight hug before going to the little boy's bedside and giving him a tender miniature version of the hug she had just given Tim. Ducky and Kate were also affected by the sight of the fragile little figure, but didn't let it show on their faces so much.

They visited for a while before the trio left with wishes of good night, before leaving Gibbs and Tim alone with the little boy.

Tim moved to the bedside and was pleased to notice that the IV that had been connected to Tony was gone, thought the port was still on the boy's arm. Still he waited until a nurse came to check on Tony and asked her if he could pick up his son before actually taking the boy in his arms. It was pretty much a repeat of the scene from the previous night as Tim held his son and Gibbs stood guard over the two.

The little family stayed like that for a long time, only switching so that Gibbs get to hold the precious little boy and they only laid him back down after hours of just sitting there holding him, and making sure that he was safe and letting the baby know that he was surrounded by the people who love him.

The two men didn't leave the room the whole night except for when they needed to use the facilities or Gibbs got them both coffee, but other than those little breaks, they held silent vigil over their little boy.

They had both grown accustomed to the regular visits by the nursing staff to check on Tony, but in the morning they heard the sound of high heels heading towards the room and stop outside before the familiar figure of their new CPS woman appeared in the doorway.

"I was hoping I'd find you two here" She smiled at the two men before clearing her throat and going to business

"We run the paternity tests yesterday and got the results back and there is no doubt that You Agent Gibbs are the boys father" At the shocked looks on the two men's faces she hastened to correct herself "I'm so sorry, I meant Agent McGee is the father of this little boy." She blushed a bit at having messed up like that.

"We have also been informed that Mr Rossi has confirmed the kidnapping to having been his doing and as we are certain that you have been nothing but a good father to Anthony. I'm revoking the removal of Anthony from your custody. So congratulations you are again his dad. I would again like to offer my deepest regrets for the way this thing was handled and I'm so sorry for all the trouble and heartache this whole mess had caused both of you."

Tim had tears of joy in his eyes and he leaned into Gibbs who had wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Thank you for giving Tony back to us" The gratitude in the younger man's statement made the woman smile.

"It really was my pleasure. I really feel that your right to be his father and guardian should never have been questioned in the first place. I need you to sign a few papers and I'll let you get back to taking care of your son."

McGee gratefully accepted the papers and pen the woman held out to him and signed the papers.

Hartley nodded as she took the papers and moved to get out of the room.

"Take good care of him." With those last words she left the men to celebrate the fact that they had finally gotten their son back.

TBC...?

_**A/N: Okay so I think I've covered everything important. The big question now is that should I end it here or do an epilogue? I'm not sure yet, because I could just leave this story here and continue in the collection of one shots I told would be the third story in the series... I'll leave it up to you my faithful readers, drop in a few words and tell me what you think :)**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, or put this story on alert or on their favorite list, I appreciate every single review and alert, because it tells me that people are actually reading and enjoying my fics (or telling me how to make them better, I appreciate that too) **_


	13. epilogue

_**A/N:So the majority was in favor of an epilogue so here it is! Hope you have enjoyed the story and will continue to enjoy the next part of the series that I will start posting probably late next week (I need a few days break from writing, but after that I'll start working on it) I was supposed to tell the name in this author's note, but I really don't know it yet so... yeah. If you have a suggestion, I'm all ears (I was thinking 'Raising a McGiblet' might be interesting...XD ) Anyways thanks for all the support I have gotten along this story and I'll let you get to the reading now... **_

It took four more days of recuperating in the hospital for little Tony, but on Saturday the boy was ready to be released and Tim and Gibbs couldn't have been more happy and judging by the noises coming from the boy, he seemed happy to be getting out of the hospital as well.

So it was a week after the kidnapping when a smiling Tim exited the hospital with tony bundled up in his arms and Gibbs walking beside him with an arm around the younger man's shoulders and McGee treasured every minute of it as they walked to the car. It was rare for Gibbs to allow even this kind of simple touch in public, so Tim lapped it up along with the feeling of Tony safe in his arms.

Tim strapped Tony in and took a seat in the back seat next to him while Gibbs drove the three of them back to his house. The older man kept a close eye on his two passengers via the rear view mirror and he couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw his lover playing with the little boy. His smile wanted to grow the nearer they got to the house but he kept it well hidden so he wouldn't alert Tim that something was going on.

McGee played with his son until the little boy was lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the car. After the little eyes closed, Tim just sat there watching his son and wondering about the fact that Gibbs had insisted that they head to his house instead of McGee's. To be totally honest he was kinda glad as he liked the homey feel of the older man's house, though the feel was probably mostly because every room at the house smelled of sawdust and _Gibbs_ and those two were the scents that could make Tim relax and feel safe. And that safety was something Tim wanted his son to experience as much as humanly possible.

It didn't take long for them to reach Gibbs' place and once there the older man got out and opened the back door to carefully scoop Tony up and carry him to the house to continue his nap, but the boy was having none of that. As soon as he was lifted up, the boy's eyes popped open and he stared at the man holding him with wide eyes.

"Well good morning kiddo, you know you were supposed to sleep a bit longer than that." Gibbs raised one eyebrow as the boy pushed a fist into his mouth, ignoring the older man in favor of trying to fit the whole thing in his mouth.

Tim chuckled as he walked after Gibbs and Tony towards the front door, but it was his turn to raise an eyebrow as the older man unlocked the front door and Tim noticed that the lock had been changed recently and the fact that it was in use was even more of a surprise.

"You actually locked your door? I'm impressed" Gibbs just grunted as he kicked of his shoes and walked straight into the living room and laid Tony on the sofa to unbundled him from his outdoor clothes before picking the boy up again. By that time Tim had took of his own coat and shoes and had followed them into the living room.

"I think we should lay him back to sleep or he will be cranky all evening" He said as he walked to his lover and took Tony in his own arms and sat on the couch to bounce the boy gently in his lap.

"I'll take care of the bottle, you go ahead his things are in the bedroom down the hall" The comment was thrown from over Jethro's shoulder as he went into the kitchen and Tim was puzzled as he realized that he had never been to the room Gibbs just mentioned.

"Well I guess it's time to go and change your diaper and go to take a nap." Tim said to the little boy who was watching his daddy closely.

McGee got up and thought for a while of waiting for Gibbs but shook his head slightly and proceeded up the stairs and down the hall. He opened the door at the end of the hallway and froze at the sight that greeted him.

He cautiously stepped into the room and took in the soothing blue walls and the dark wood furniture that included a crib, a changing table and a rocking chair. There was also a dresser, toy chest and a closet that both looked like something Gibbs might have made himself. But for some reason it was the mobile hanging over the crib that grabbed Tim's attention and so he stood next to it with Tony, just looking, and that's when he felt arms circle him.

"What do you think of the room?" Gibbs whispered in his ear and the younger man turned bright eyes to his lover, but before he could answer a high pitched squeal cam from his lap and caused the men to chuckle.

"Well Tony likes it." Tim turned so he could look at the older man in the eyes "I think it's beautiful" Gibbs cleared his throat and took the boy from Tim and with fluent movements brought the boy to the changing table and took care of the wet diaper before handing the boy to his lover who laid him to his crib and stuck the nipple of the milk bottle Gibbs had brought with him into the half open mouth.

The men watched as Tony's eyelids began to droop and finally after many tries to keep his eyes open, the boy succumbed to sleep.

Gibbs walked to the dresser and opened one of the drawers and took out a baby monitor that he placed next to the crib and took the receiver before guiding Tim out of the room and into the kitchen.

"I thought it was time Tony had a place in here" Gibbs answered as he went to make coffee even before Tim could even ask the question. The younger man sat at the table and waited if Gibbs would elaborate.

Gibbs sighed and turned around as he finished loading the coffee machine.

"I want you both to have a place here, a home, if you want it of course" Tim blinked as he heard the hesitancy and meaning behind the words.

"Are you asking us to move in here? With you?" Gibbs nodded and went to crouch in front of the younger man and took his hand in both of his.

"I don't know what I would do if something happened to either of you so I want to have you here, where I can keep an eye on you both and keep you safe." As Tim started to protest that he could take care of himself and Tony, Gibbs continued. "I know you don't need protecting, if you did you wouldn't be on my team. But I need you close and I- I want to be there for Tony, as a Dad"

Jethro looked into Tim's eyes and felt relieved when the younger man smiled widely and launched himself at the older man and their lips met in a deep kiss.

"Is that a yes?" Gibbs asked with a smile and a small laugh as Tim nodded his head enthusiastically, but frowned when the younger agent stopped smiling and looked a bit worried.

"What about Morrow? Won't he have to split us up?"

Gibbs smiled reassuringly and gave Tim's cheek a kiss as he stood up to get a cup of the now ready coffee.

"Tom isn't going to officially acknowledge anything, as long as I won't play favorites it isn't a problem"

"Yeah like that's happen, unless I decide to grow a pair of pigtails and start wearing a Goth getup." Tim muttered and smirked as Gibbs almost shot coffee from his nose at the mental image.

The smirk vanished quickly and when Jethro turned the glare at the other man, he had adopted his most innocent puppy expression.

"Yeah, like that's gonna work" Gibbs scoffed but couldn't help the corner of his lip to twist up with amusement and he tried to hide it with his coffee cup.

He turned to get a refill as he drained the rest of the coffee from his cup and groaned as he hoped that Tony hadn't inherited the same puppy dog expression, while it might not always work on McGee, it did most of the time and just thinking Tony's big eyes looking at him with that look on his face...

Yep, he was screwed. But a smile broke out on his face as he thought that his life would never be dull with the two boys in his house and life. And truthfully, he wouldn't want it any other way. He looked at his lover as he heard a crash and saw Tim picking up a pieces of a mug from the floor with a sheepish grin on his face.

He groaned and with a sigh hoped that his house could handle Tim and Tony living with him.

The End


End file.
